Out of this World
by DiamondLucy
Summary: [Complete] A Kingdom Hearts FFX2 crossover...what happens when some of our favorite Spirans get thrown into the world of KH? Why are they here, what is their purpose? GippalxRikkuxRiku YunaxTidus Painex?
1. Sleepover

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to any of this stuff…

A/N: Two of my three favorite video games, brought together in a very different way. I might try to incorporate my other favorite (DDR), but that might be a little difficult. Anyways enjoy a mix of FFX-2 and KH.

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Rikku's PointOfView... 

"They call this junk television?" I looked over at Paine who was casually flipping through the channels at our monthly YRP reunion slumber party. Yuna was busy in the kitchen talking on the phone with Tidus.

"Hey Yuna get off the phone! I want to order pizza!" I whined and went into the kitchen. Yuna was holding a finger up to me and arguing with Tidus about who loved who more. I just rolled my eyes. Finally she handed over my cordless phone and I called Brother's Pizza Parlor. I order three small pizzas, one with extra cheese, one with pineapple, and one with pepperoni.

I walked back into my apartment's family room and found that Paine and Yuna had settled on some weird cartoon, so I settled in to watch.

"_I'll come back for you!" a spiky haired boy with brown hair shouted as he reached out his hand a short red-haired girl._

"_I know you will!" the girl shouted back a tear rolled down her cheek. Suddenly a song blasted out of the speakers and the credits began to roll. _

"Rikku you missed it. There was a guy named Riku in that movie." Yuna said to me, handing me a coke.

"That was what I call cheesy." Paine rolled her eyes and then picked up the remote again.

"I think it was sweet. We've never seen the show before. I think you can't judge a series if you only watch the last five minutes of the finale." Yuna picked up the TV guide and turned to Friday Late Night. I heard the doorbell and grabbed the money for the pizzas.

"Hey I have an order here for…umm…a Rikku Haverford?" the nervous guy shifted from foot to foot. I noticed something was off with him. For some reason he had a gun in his pocket…

"Yeah, that's me." I began handing him the money, but instead he grabbed my arm.

"What do you think your doing? Yuuuunnnnaaaaa! Paaaiiiinnnneeeee!" I kicked and screamed but the guy didn't seem to care. Yuna and Paine ran up behind me.

"Who do you think you are?" Paine growled at the pizza delivery boy.

"I think you'll soon find out." The boy's voice had changed and he pulled his gun out. He fired at us, but instead of a bullet coming out, some kind of dark gas began engulfing us.

* * *

A/n: Werid? I know it. But I have to get them out of Spira and into KH land…And this is kind of a prologue to set the stage...yeah and I know this is short but I promise later chapters will be better and longer...and the italics was the TV show... 

Please review!

Lucy Samantha


	2. Where am I?

Disclaimer: I don't any of this…maybe I own a couple of the plot points…other then that…

A/N: Does anybody else smell brownies? runs off to get some Much better now I can write…

"Miss? You okay miss?" my eyelids fluttered open and I saw a familiar boy in front of me.

"Owie, my head hurts." I began rubbing a bump on my head before getting a grip of my surrounding. The last thing I remembered was a psychotic pizza delivery boy with a gun…and now I was in a small one-roomed house. It had blue curtains and a soft light. There was a ceiling fan. (A/n: the small house in district three in traverse town…) I saw several people staring at me, none of whom I recognized.

"You were lying in an alley way, the heartless were trying to get you. But I took care of that." The boy swung a large key around and grinned. Where did I see him before?

"Where is Yuna? And Paine?" I kept rubbing the large bump on my forehead.

"That silver-haired girl? And that blonde guy? They're in the red room down at the hotel. Aerith had to heal them, but Leon and I figured since you weren't badly injured to just take you back here." He had really dark blue eyes…I racked my memory for the place where I've seen him before. And who were Leon and Aerith?

"Yeah, silver-haired girl that's Paine. Umm, a blonde guy I'm not sure whether I know him or not…and did you see a girl with short brown hair?" I sat upright in the bed and I saw a girl with high socks and short black hair and a guy with dark brown hair.

"No sign of a girl with short brown hair. I'm Sora by the way." He pointed at the people in the room the black-haired girl's name was Yuffie and the brown-hair guy was Leon.

"My name is Rikku." I smiled at stood up. I dusted myself off and finally got a grip of myself. Something deep inside told me I was not in Spira anymore.

"Rikku? I have a friend named Riku! I'm not sure where he is right now." Sora's voice lowered, "The last time I saw him we was…uhhh…not himself…" Sora turned away and shivered. I could sense he didn't want to talk about it.

"Oh, that's too bad. Umm, if you wouldn't mind could you take me two the other two people you found?" I started walking towards the door.

"Sure, but stick with me, the heartless roam these parts even though the keyhole is sealed. I can take 'em, but if your not careful…they could…ummm…well just stick with me Rikku." Sora ran out the door and I followed. Several minutes and about twenty heartless later we were at a large hotel.

"Hey Aerith are they okay?" Sora called out into a hotel room.

"Yeah, we found them just in time. The boy can talk now." A brunette with a long braid came out of the room. She smiled at me and seemed really nice.

"I'm Rikku." I held out my hand for her to shake, but instead she gave me a friendly hug. I smiled and was really happy to meet someone as nice as her in this strange world.

"I'm Aerith. These are the two we found in the first district. They were unconscious." She fumbled with a piece of thread in her hand and lead Sora and I into the room. I let my eyes look over the surroundings and saw Paine lying on a bed reading a magazine. Then I saw Tidus sitting in a chair drinking coffee.

"Painey! Tidus! Oh my god! I am sooo excited! I thought you guys were uber injured!" I ran over and embraced Tidus first and then Paine. To my surprise neither of them seemed to mind. I think Paine even gave a slight smile.

"Aerith is a great healer." Sora said stepping into the room.

"Rikku have you seen Yuna?" Tidus was standing now, a concerned look on his face.

"No…but I know she's in this place…somewhere. That pizza guy blasted his gun at all three of us!" I paced around the hotel room.

"Did you say a pizza guy? Because the person that pointed a gun at me, Gippal, Wakka, and Baralai was a Chinese delivery woman." Tidus started pacing with me.

"Wait a second…did you just say his named was Tidus? And you mention the name Wakka?" I spun around and saw Sora looking slightly confused.

"Yeah? Why?" I looked into one of the tasseled pouched on my belt and found my favorite picture. It was of me, Yuna, Paine, Baralai, Wakka, Tidus, Nooj, Le Blanc, and Lulu. I pointed at each person and told the name to each.

"That's weird. Your name is Rikku and there's a Wakka and Tidus too." Sora said. I was slightly confused. I decided no to think about it anymore and to turn my attention to a more important subject; Gippal was here too, most likely.

"Tidus you said Gippal was with you? So he might be here too?" I asked him. I just remembered my boyfriend was having a sleepover as well last night.

"Yeah…" then Tidus remembered about Gippal and I were dating. "I'm sure he's fine Rikku."

I nodded and then faced Sora. "Would you help us look? For our friends?" I told myself I was only asking him because he seemed to know his way around and I had no clue how to battle those heartless. They left behind colorful balls when they disappeared and I doubted you could cast the same spells on them that you could cast on fiends.

"Sure it'd be my pleasure. I'm kind of on this…umm…well you could call it a mission, but I'm doing it right now and if you would be willing to come along and maybe help me…" his voice trailed off. Sora scratched the back of his head.

"Yea! No problem Tidus, Paine, and I have all saved Spria at least once," I lowered my voice to a whisper, "but I saved it twice." I giggled and added a wink. Sora turned bright red.

"Tsk tsks Rikku, what will Gippal say when he sees you flirting with a fourteen-year-old?" Tidus teased me and I just giggled again in defeat.

"Sora before we leave don't you think the three of us had better get some weapons that work against heartless?" Paine's monosyllabic voice spoke up from the corner.

"Your weapons should work fine." Sora answered.

"Sora didn't you notice by our attire, we're all in our pajamas. We don't have electro marbles and phoenix downs. We don't have dresspheres. We don't have thief blades or guns…" Paine started rambling off to Sora all the things we didn't have. I decided to play thumb wars with Tidus and tune her out.

"Umm Paine actually, the thing is I have my thief dressphere with me…" I began to say; but I was met by a death glare.

"And I always carry some small weapons with me in case I run into a fiend." Tidus added. Paine looked a little ticked off. Sora ran over to Aerith and asked her something; she nodded.

"Paine since you're going to be on a long journey with Sora you can always borrow my staff." Aerith went into the closet and took out a long brown staff.

"A Long Journey? And what am I supposed to do with a piece of wood?" Paine asked; sounding more then slightly annoyed.

"You use it for magic and healing. Just point the staff and cast your magic." Aerith quickly explained. "You do know black and white magic right?"

"Yes of course I know magic. Thanks for the staff Aerith." Paine took the staff out of Aerith's hands and stood up. "I guess we better get going, we have bigger fish to fry."

"That's the spirit!" Tidus said and everyone but Paine danced out of the hotel happily.

"Minus ten respect points, all of you." Paine said slightly jokingly from behind us.

"Don't ask" I whispered to Sora.

"Wait until you see my Gummi ship! Its awesome Cid made a really cool design since I was picking up all kinds of parts from allover…" I walked through the quaint town listening to Sora's voice trying to remember where I had heard it before.

"So where are we going?" Tidus asked Sora. I was about to laugh at the question when I realized that I still had no idea where we were.

"Well, I'm not sure exactly, but I think we need to be heading in the direction of Hallow Bastion." Sora answered and then began running. "Last one to the Gummi is a rotten egg!"

I began to run after him when Paine stopped me.

"Rikku look." Paine pointed at something in the ground. It looked like a name badge, from Brother's Pizza Parlor.

"So…" I began to say; then I got it. That was the name of the place where I had ordered Pizza from last night. Maybe this was our first clue to our friend's whereabouts. Maybe just maybe Yuna and Gippal…and Baralai weren't far away after all. But I had no time to think about it then, I didn't want to be the rotten egg!

A/N: Ooo! Not very cliff-hangery is it? I like that ending when I started this chapter I wrote the last line first and tried to see if I could make it work…lol I know I'm a freak. Please review and maybe I'll update soon…

Lucy Samantha


	3. Hallow Bastion

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to any of this…

A/N: Thanks for the reviews from both chapters, snaps to all those who reviewed! Anyways I guess I'll update because that's what you really want…

Oh yea and for those of you who have played far into Kingdom Hearts, they're in the part of the game after Neverland before Sora meets up with the Beast at Rising Falls. You know the scene where Riku steals Sora's keyblade…that's the point in the game…

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I looked out the small window on Sora's Gummi ship. I wasn't quite sure where exactly we were going, but I knew we had a good chance of finding our friends there. I had forgotten how much I missed Gippal, last time I saw him we had been fighting. He was mad at me for flirting with some of the other guys a Djose. I swear it was completely innocent, but Gippal is kind of possessive. Anyways you get the picture.

"We're here! Welcome to Hallow Bastion! Watch your step; we're in a part called the Rising Falls." Sora's voice boomed over the Gummi's intercom. Paine stood up from the lounge chair she had been sitting in and Tidus woke up from his nap with a jolt.

"Mayday! Mayday! Man overboard!" Tidus started running around the ship frantically screaming after being awaken from his nap. I wondered what kind of dream he had been having. Sora and I burst out laughing and Paine rolled her eyes.

"If we don't hurry up Yuna will be gone by the time we get there." Paine took a piece of paper she had been furiously writing on the whole ride and motioned for us to exit the ship. I followed her and Sora was in tow. Tidus eventually snapped out of his dream-state and ran after us asking for us to wait up.

"Wow." I breathed at the sight of the beautifully intimidating Rising Falls. There were several rocks which Sora started jumping onto, he paused; waiting for us to follow his lead. I looked at the long distance he had just leaped with ease.

"You go first." I pushed Paine in front of me and she jumped over to the floating rocks with ease too. I took a deep breath and plunged. I found myself laying face first on the next rock. Paine was almost smiling and me and when I looked up she put up her front and rolled her eyes.

Eventually we made our way to larger area with an archway. A boy was standing there with his back facing us.

"So you've finally arrived. Took you long enough. You were also the slower one Sora. If I do recall the score back on the island was 2 to 17?" The boy's back remained to us and I cringed at the sound of his voice. How did he and Sora know each other?

"Riku? Where's Kairi! I know you have her!" Sora's voice was filled with a mixture of sorrow and anger. I shifted nervously feeling a bit like a third-wheel.

"Kairi is safe here, no thanks to you. I have powers strong enough to save her, no thanks to you. The only thing you've done is get in the way." The boy sneered at Sora and then turned around. I couldn't help it, I gasped. He had dark blue eyes and slivery blue hair. His arms were very defined and he was about three inches taller then me. I thought he looked a little younger then me but only a year or two maximum.

"Riku please!" I snapped my head in Sora's direction at the sound of my name.

"What?" "What?" we both asked him simultaneously. Riku looked at me and narrowed his eyes. Then he looked at Paine and Tidus with a similar expression.

"Who are they." He asked Sora as he gestured at our little group. Paine turned her back to the situation.

"They're looking for their friends too. They aren't from this world. They don't know how they got here. We're traveling together and helping each other out." Sora answered bluntly.

"You," the boy walked up close to me and looked down on my face, "what's your name?"

"Rikku," I smiled at him my happiest grin, "what's yours?" His face softened up for a minute and then it stiffened.

"Riku." he snapped at me. He turned around and threw his hands up in the air. "You know what Sora I'm tired of dealing with you. I don't even know why you got that key, you don't know how to use the power it posses!" Riku turned around and looked at Sora with a look of lost friendship and pure hatred.

Tidus elbowed me in the side and whispered, "Do you think they'll be done soon? I want to keep looking for Yuna."

"Just keep it down, I have this feeling something important is about to happen. Something to do with that giant key." I whispered back to him. Then Paine handed me the a piece of the paper she had been writing on all day, I read what it said and Tidus read over my shoulder.

_What we know: Questions:_

_Brother's Pizza Name badge_

_Key key's powers_

_Heartless Kairi and Riku_

_Yuna, Gippal, Baralai, Wakkamissing_

_Chinese delivery_

I noticed this was only a small fraction of the papaer she had been writing on. This was kind of boring but I figured I should say something about it to her anyways.

"Paine I never knew you were organized like this!" I giggled. Then I felt four sets of eyes fixated on me. Sora and Riku had just been fighting with each other and now Riku was holding Sora's key. I was slightly confused and Paine snatched the paper out of my hands and tore it to pieces. That was more then slightly weird.

"Did I miss anything?" I asked timidly. Paine gave me her famous eye-roll and Tidus contained a snicker. Riku looked completely ticked off and Sora was standing in front of me dumbfounded. I blushed turning reder then Paine's eyes.

I sighed and just waited for the embarrassment to be over.Suddenly Riku got a weird look in his eyes. He butis hands in front of him and swirled the key around creating a dark portal.He stepped into it and I heard him laugh slightly before he disappeared into the darkness. The black gas of the portal reminded me the gas that had engulfed us the other night.

_About 15 minutes later_

"Sora do you have any idea to where we're going?" I wiped the sweat off my forehead from fighting the heartless mainly solo. Sora was useless without the key andwith the wooden sword he was trying to fight with. Paine was still getting the hang of fighting with a wooden rod and Tidus was quickly out of ammo for his small handgun. That left almost all of the heartless up to me to fight.

"I told you once and I'll tell you again I've never been here before. But Kairi is here, I know it…I can feel it in my heart." Sorasounded very poetic for a brief moment. I giggled.

"That has to be the corniest thing I've heard all day." I put a hand over my mouth to try to stop myself from my giggle fit but it only got worse. Tidus saw me and burst out laughing too. Paine tapped her foot impatiently. I'm not sure why I found it so amusing...but I guess since we were all so tense I needed some way to relived some of the stress. Laughter is the bect medicine.

"You two if you ever want to find Yuna and Gippal I suggest we get a move on it." Paine started off and Sora followed closely. Tidus and I finally got over our giggle fit and ran to catch up.

"Hey look footprints!" I pointed at some black circular traces on the marble floor. Paine knelt down and closely examined the prints.

"Whoever…whatever…made these wasn't human." She stated bleakly. Sora frowned and Tidus paced back and forth.ThenTidusstuck a finger in the gooey prints.

"Hmm…strange." He commented to himself out loud.

"What's strange?" I asked. Sora and I looked at each other and then back at Tidus.

"This stuff it smells," he scooped some of the goop onto his forefinger and tasted a tiny piece, "and tastes…like soy sauce?" Tidus looked extremely perplexed.

"Soy sauce, like the Chinese delivery woman?" I stated remembering what Tidus had told me earlier.

"Exactly! Let's follow these trails!" Sora began running foreword on the never ending trail of prints and the rest of us followed. Something inside told me it couldn't be this easy, if these people went through all of the trouble of getting us here in the first place maybe they were just setting some sort of trap.

"This feels like a trap." Paine said as she walked passed me, I nodded in grave agreement.

"But what other choice do we have? This might be the only way we can save them." Tidus shouted from way in front of us. Gradually I fell behind the others and I could feel myself thinking constantly about Gippal. I wondered what I would say when I found him again, maybe I wouldn't say anything at all. I wondered if just like I was thinking and worrying about him maybe he was somewhere thinking the same of me.

My thoughts were disrupted when a gloved hand covered my mouth. Out of shock I wanted to scream but something inside told me not to. I noticed the others were far ahead of me and had no idea I had someone behind me. I struggled a little bit with no success.

"You are coming with me. Don't worry I won't hurt you. As for your friends, come with me and I might be able to guaranty their safety." I immediately recognized the voice…it was Riku's.

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A/n: so yes Rikku is getting kipnapped by Riku. Why, well that's soon to come…and all those other burning questions will be answered…later on…as for now I'm going to see whats on HBO and finish my Lord of the Flies essay for English. So please review and I'll update sooner…inspire me, lol…

Lucy Samantha


	4. Mixed Real Emotions

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to this…;)

A/N: I'm changing the ages of Riku and Rikku around, since this takes place a few months after the "perfect ending" in Final Fantasy X-2, in which Rikku is 17…I wanted to make Riku 16, even though he's 15 in Kingdom Hearts…lets just say he had a birthday…

Riku: My birthday? Did you get me a present?

Me: umm, no it's your quote un-quote "birthday"…but you can have this…half pack of gum?

Riku: Score!

Gippal: I'm so bored... why are you keeping me locked in your closet again?

Me: heh (sweat drop) I think I'll start the story now…

Riku: this gum won't blow bubbles…

* * *

I don't know why I didn't scream. I just let him take me. His voice was low and soothing and my heart started to pound. I realized I was getting abducted. He left his hand over my mouth and pulled at my hand dragging me down a small alleyway in Hallow Bastion. 

_About three hours later…_

I must have blacked out I woke up on a cot in the middle of a large room. There were now windows. I looked around and saw Riku sitting in a chair reading something. Nobody else was in the room.

"Looks like somebody finally woke up." His voice seemed a lot softer then it had when he was yelling at Sora earlier.

"Why did you take me?" I asked him, why was I even here in the first place? Maybe he knew.

"Because you let me. You wanted to come with me." His blunt response confused me. It sounded like something I had heard before.

"But why did you want me here? Why did you try in the first place?" I asked him, urging him for some kind of explanation.

"Must we be so dense?" he stood up and opened a door and exited the room. I heard a lock click behind him. He had left me here with nothing but my thoughts.

* * *

(Tidus' POV) 

"Paine I haven't heard Rikku talking in awhile? Is she still back there with you?" I kept my eyes forward scanning the sewer for the likely trap that the soy-sauce footprints was most likely leading to.

"Tidus Sora. We had a bit of a problem. Rikku is missing." Paine's voice didn't even suggest a hint of worry. I wondered how she could be like that. I can tell you one thing though she is awesome at poker.

"Rikku is missing?" Sora's voice echoed Paine. He sounded hurt, as if someone had stabbed him in the heart or something.

"She could be anywhere; we've been following this trail for hours…" I let my voice trailed off. Now Rikku was probably missing. She was probably with Yuna. Somewhere I knew Yuna was in this world. She was here for a reason and so was I. And although her reason was unknown my purpose here was clear…I was here to save her.

_

* * *

__(Rikku's POV )_

I sat across from Riku at a small table. He had come back to this room after about two hours. He had brought with him a bowl of soup and he set it in front of me. I was still refusing to eat it.

"Rikku you're going to grow weak if you don't eat." He whined to me, he'd been trying to get me to eat the soup for about an hour.

"I'm not hungry and I don't trust your food." I whispered. He looked frustrated with me and ran his fingers through his silvery hair. I gulped a little and then I blushed.

"So, Rikku…how old are you?" He was staring intently at my hair, for some reason. I grew self-conscience and started twisting my hair around my fingers.

"Seventeen." I said shortly. He raised his eyebrows and stood up, walking over towards me. He stood behind me and I couldn't see him without turning my head around. I chose to stare into my soup.

"I'm sixteen." He whispered into my ear softly. I jumped at the voice and lunged forward onto the table, spilling my soup all over my only clothes.

"Thanks for scaring me." I huffed while using the napkin Riku handed me. I wasn't sure why I was so angry, maybe because he said his age as if he was in a porn flick or maybe because I had actually responded in an…embarrassing way.

* * *

(Yuna's POV) 

Where was I…am I. I remember being at a sleepover with Rikku and Paine…and that Pizza guy! My surroundings were strange and unfamiliar. Looking around I was I was in the center of a hallway.

I'm laying on a stone platform. I'm freezing. Looking around there are about five, six, maybe even seven other girls here…laying on stone platforms as well. We're all chained to the platforms, someone else is here too. I can her voices coming from a door nearby…

* * *

(Rikku's POV) 

"Umm, thanks again for loaning me this shirt." I sat on the cot uneasily wearing Riku's tight yellow shirt. He shrugged and walked over to the small window, staring out longingly.

"No problem." He muttered. Then he turned away from the window and sat down at the table, eating all the soup left in the bowl after my spill. I guess it wasn't drugged afterall.

"So…why are you here?" I said, trying desperately to strike up a conversation.

"I was looking for someone. Turns out I don't really want to find them anymore. Besides, my world has been destroyed. I managed to escape, I have no where to go." He started making his way over to the window again and I watched him. Sleep tugged relentlessly at my eyelids and I began to succumb to sleep.

"_Rikku! Rikku are you even listening to me?" I smiled at a fifteen year-old Gippal. We were getting ready to go to the school's Freshmen dance. Gippal had just asked me something about if I liked his tux. _

"_Marvelous darhhling!" I smiled and giggled my fourteen-year old butt off. Then he threw his arm around me and we began walking…_

_Suddenly Gippal was replaced with Riku, he had his arm around me and we were still making our way to the car for the freshmen dance. He tagged me and I chased after him in my heels. I fell because I tripped and we laughed our heads off…_

_Why were my memories of Gippal being replaced with Riku? _

_**The next morning…**_

I woke up with a sore back on account of the horrible cot. I began rubbing the knots in my muscles out and let out a low moan from the pain. How was I supposed to live here and sleep on this for…who knows how long?

"Sleeping beauty finally decided to wake up. Want some pancakes?" Riku smiled at me and I smiled in spite of myself. So what if I had a freaky dream about him? It's not like it was his fault.

"You know Rikku; I had the weirdest dream last night. You'll never believe this, I had this dream that you and I were in the circus…" I didn't listen as he babbled on about me having flame breathe and him taming lions. I was too busy thinking about the fact that we had both dreamt of each other on the same night. But wasn't I supposed to be dreaming about Gippal…only Gippal? He was my boyfriend and we were "in love"…maybe fate was taking a cruel turn on me.

* * *

(Tidus POV) 

We have been walking down this trail for what, 24 hours now? And we have gotten nowhere. Instead we have lost a party member. All I really want is to see Yuna…I want to see her…

"Tidus, a door." Paine spoke up from behind me, causing me to jump slightly at the non-threatening tone in her voice. Paine had been acting out of character for the past couple of hours.

"I say we go inside, we've been following this path forever…" Sora whined. I nodded in agreement and Paine slowly opened the heavy wooded door. Stepping through we found ourselves in a sort of lift shop. There were machine-like objects flying around and stopping at different points. Sora stepped onto one and gestured for us to do the same.

"Gippal would love to check out this stuff." I muttered under my breathe, Paine heard me.

"Maybe he's already seen it. Maybe we're close to finding them." Paine answered.

"Maybe…maybe."

Sora spun around and ran off the lift when it arrived at the upper-level floor. I walked off and saw buttons you pressed in order to raise and lower large platforms.(A/N: you know in Hallow Bastion when you have to raise and lower this heart-platform thingy in order to get up the Castle Chapel and fight Malcifent…yea) Sora began the tedious task.

"Shouldn't be much longer now, I can feel that they're close by." Sora whispered to himself, but I overheard. My heart sped up with the idea of seeing Yuna once again.

* * *

(Rikku's POV) 

"There's a balcony, do you mind if I go out on it?" I was getting bored from sitting inside this musty room all day. It reminded me of the temple in Bevelle.

"I'm coming with you." Riku stood up and walked over to the door leading onto a grand balcony slowly.

"Suit yourself." I simply stated as I opened up the French doors and let in a breeze of cool air. I had forgotten how humid and hot I had been for the past day.

"The air is nicer out here." Riku said as he gazed out over the horizon. Then something in the distance caught his eye. Something glittering in the sunshine. He squinted in an attempt to see what it was.

I looked over the balcony railing too and I saw something small in the distance. The thing seemed to be moving. I squinted and gasped. The figure looked a lot like…Gippal! As the person moved closer I had a clear view. It was Gippal and he was carrying some kind of machina weapon that was catching a glimmer in the sunlight. Suddenly Riku grew frustrated and ushered me back inside, but not without a bit of a fight from me.

"Riku I want to see who that guy is." I whined and he continued forcing me back inside the hot sticky room.

"No, I think he may be dangerous. We didn't bring him here, he was a mistake." Riku scratched the back of his head and sat on the edge of my cot, resting his head in his hands.

"You brought me here? You did this?" I asked, my eyes growing wide.

"It wasn't supposed to be anyone but the summoner and her boyfriend. The rest of you are mistakes." Riku muttered, at first I was surprised that he actually answered my questions.

"What? And just why exactly did you want Yunie and Tidus to come here in the first place? And I am not a mistake!" I screamed into his face. I really wanted to stress my points; I was in the mood for answers.

"I'm not sure what they want with them…it was the only way I could save Kairi. She doesn't even care; the only guy she ever thinks about is the stupid Sora. He's such an idiot too; she is making a huge mistake. I nodded it was obvious he was, or had been, in love with his friend's girlfriend. No wonder they didn't get along to well.

"I'm sorry." I said, trying to show some sympathy for him, after all you catch more flies with honey then you do with vinegar, right? If I wanted any answers out of Riku I had to be nice to him.

"Thanks, but you shouldn't get involved in any of this. I've already told you too much." He started to walk away and I felt my heart pounding. Something inside me was telling me to go against everything and reach out to Riku, to kiss him.

"Riku," I said quietly I walked over to him and tilted my chin upward. I kissed him softly on the lips and he responded…not so softly. We were suddenly thrown together in a deep kiss. I felt my body shaking and my heart beating wildly, but still the sensation was so wonderful I couldn't stop it.

When we finally broke apart, gasping for air, I heard a familiar male's voice speaking to me. "Rikku?"

* * *

A/N: I got the idea for Rikku/Riku fluff romance partly from my friend and partly from reviewer Cute-Kitty, who I want to thank specially. I wasn't sure whether anyone would be comfortable with the whole idea but once I got the review I was like, what the hell I'll go for it.

* * *

Anyways I have some cookies baking in the oven, they're for Foreign Language Week at our school, and I'm making them for "food day" where everybody brings in something from whatever language they're studying culture…anyways I take French and I'm making cookies, which are really good, so the reason I'm telling you this is because I just _have _to leave the chapter at a cliff hanger because I can't let my cookies burn…bye! 

Yuna:(looking through 'Lucy's Documents') hey! She already has the next two chapters typed up!

Tidus:(with Gippal and Riku inside my closet) why are we here again?

Sora: (stuffing his face with my cookies) these French cookies really are good!

Me: I got another paper cut typing this story up…and Gippal says to remember to review...yes GIPPAL says to review, not me, so that should make you really want to review!

Lucy Samantha


	5. Bordem

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to this stuff…

A/N: watching Seinfeld and drinking soda, I'm really tired from track practice, barely enough energy to type…

* * *

"Rikku?" a familiar male voice asked me.

I quickly pushed Riku away from me and was face to face with Gippal.

"Rikku what were you doing?" Gippal asked me, even though I was pretty sure he had witnessed every moment of it.

"We were, umm…I was…" I stumbled over my own words. Gippal had come here, thinking he was going to save me.

"I forced her to do it. I threatened her before you got here." Riku spoke from his quiet stance by the door. I wanted to gasp but I saw a cold hardened look in his eyes. I wanted to at least mouth thank you to him as he left, but with Gippal watching me so closely I couldn't. I shuttered slightly as the door slammed shut behind him. A cold chill ran through my blood when I heard him lock the door behind him; Gippal and I were locked here together.

"Is that true? Were you forced into it? Because from where I was standing you seemed to really be enjoying…" Gippal's voice cracked a little, I could see that he was hurt more then I'd ever imagined. He must really have meant it when he said he loved me.

"It's true…" I avoided all eye contact; I didn't want to lie to him. Although the whole time when I looked at Gippal, I thought of Riku.

"Well then in that case, do you have any idea where we are?" Gippal said, quickly gathering up his famous cool and changing the subject.

"Yeah, from what I've gathered we're in a place called Hallow Bastion." I answered relaxing slightly. Gippal leaned against the wall and ran his fingers through his short spiky blonde hair.

"I've gathered as much as well. I've also heard whispers of someone named Maleficent…have you ever heard that name mentioned?" Gippal raised his eyebrows and moved across the room towards me. I stood stiffly in my position, my thoughts hanging on his last words. I thought I heard the name Maleficent at one point or another.

"I think Riku might have mentioned that name before…" I began to say, and then I caught myself. I should never ever talk about Riku in Gippal's presence. He frowned at me and walked across the room. He stood right in front of me and looked down into my wide eyes. He took his hand and tilted my chin upwards and stared even deeper into my eyes. I let myself linger in that position for awhile before brushing away his hand and looking down at my feet. I heard the door opening. Riku entered the room.

"Is anyone hungry? Riku set down a plate of corn on the cob and fried chicken. Gippal licked his lips and sat down.

"Starved." he said and he and Riku hungrily started digging into the plate of food before them. I sighed, boys were so predictable.

"Fine, it's not like I was hungry anyways." I said sarcastically. Both boys looked at me and shrugged.

"More for us." Riku said, grabbing another chicken drumstick and taking a huge bit. I cringed out of degust.

"I'm going to bed." I announced but neither guy noticed. I sighed loudly and sulked back over to my cot. I couldn't help but wonder, I mean it was good that Gippal and Riku seemed to be getting along. Maybe it was just hunger brought everyone closer together…but it was weird. Shouldn't Gippal be outraged at Gippal for "forcing me to kiss his girlfriend"? Instead they were chowing down on corn and talking about The Simpsons. Am I the only one who thought that was weird?

* * *

(Tidus POV)

The castle doors were finally opened. We were finally getting closer to finding Yuna. We had to be. The castle felt cold and unwelcoming. Paine seemed at home…sorry bad joke.

"Whose there? Sora are you up for another round? You don't know when to quit do you?" a somewhat familiar voice sneered from the top of the staircase. I saw the silvery-haired boy looking down at our small party. "I see one of your friends has abandoned you." He sneered and then began walking away.

"Hey whoever you are! Let Yuna go!" I screamed after him. He stopped walking towards the doors and turned around.

"You know of Yuna?" he looked slightly puzzled. "Sora I didn't know you had the resources capable of finding out about Yuna and her unique value to the DEK." Riku stated. Then he knitted his brows together in a puzzled look. "You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?" he asked Sora simply.

"It wasn't me who said Yuna." Sora fired back. Riku's eyes lingered on Sora for a moment longer before he turned his hateful gaze to me. He pointed at me accusingly.

"You. You know Yuna, don't you?" he asked me harshly. I nodded; maybe he would take me to her after all.

"Good, come with me. She won't listen to any of us." He smirked and quietly waited for me to follow. I stepped forward and Sora grabbed my elbow.

"Tidus don't! It's a trap! Why do you trust him?" Sora whined.

"I don't trust him the slightest. But if I go with him I have a slightly greater chance of finding Yuna somehow." I said and then without a second glance back, especially not at Paine's stare, I went with Riku into a fate unknown to me.

* * *

(Rikku POV)

"Gippal why aren't you mad at Riku?" I asked after Riku had left the room, telling us that he had some other matters to attend to.

"Because he didn't know you had a boyfriend, you were too scared to tell him, and…" he was thinking of a third reason when I piped up to fill in the blank.

"And because I'm so hot you know no guy could possibly resist me." He grinned widely at Gippal and he shrugged.

"Whatever you say…Ciiidddd'ssss Giiirrrrrllll." He grinned at me and winked. I shuttered at the sound of that stupid nickname.

Riku entered the room and looked around. He saw me sitting in a chair at the table and Gippal lying sideways on the cot staring at me. I saw him a twitch slightly before he addressed me. "Rikku, we um... I found someone who claims to know you. Someone named Tidus."

"Oh my god really? Tidus! I miss him! I almost forgot about him! Where is he?" I jumped up and down. Gippal still hasn't looked at me the same since he caught me kissing Riku and the tension was starting to really get to me. Both Gippal and Riku stiffened a bit at my over-enthusiastic reaction.

"Yeah…he has some business with the boss. He'll probably be held in here though." Riku said in a matter-of-fact way. Which had me wondering, why were we being held here exactly? And who was the "boss"? And was Riku a really good cook or were these bad guys some sort of food tycoons, because I do remember being blasted here by some guy from Brother's pizza…

"Rikku? Rikku!" Gippal yelled into my face. I blinked and looked into his frustrated face.

"What?" I asked.

"Haven't you heard me talking to you at all? I was just saying that when Riku goes to get the dinner food we should sneak out of the room and figure out what is going on around here." Gippal hissed into my ear. I shrugged and decided to beg Riku for a nail file so I could give myself some form of a manicure.

* * *

(Sora POV)

"Paine… that's an odd name. Where did you get it?" I was trying to strike up some form of conversation with the only member left in my party.

"My parents." She answered monosyllabically. I mentally kick myself, of course her parents named her. What else should I ask her to even start some kind of conversation?

"This door looks like it leads somewhere." Paine spoke, interrupting my thoughts. She kicked open the door and we found ourselves standing in a small area filled with bookcases. I noticed a large green book sitting on a table, and then my eyes focused on a spot in the book shelves where the green book seemed to belong.

"A dead end." Paine started to leave the room, but I put a hand up to stop her.

"Nothing in this world is what it looks like. Trust me I didn't get this far stopping at every "dead end"." I say and then I place the green book back on the shelf. The bookcase swings open revealing a slightly larger room.

"Looks like we'll be organizing books here for awhile…" Paine sighs and picks up large yellow book. I shrug and get to work.

* * *

(Rikku POV)

"_Forty-nine bottles of beer on the wall, forty-nine bottles of BEER! Take on down, pass it around, forty-eight bottles of beer on the wall…" _Gippal finally cut me off by putting a hand over my mouth.

"Geesh Rikku you've been singing that song for over an hour, isn't there some other way you could occupy your time?" Gippal poked me in the arm and I turned away from him. I have been in this room for three days now and it was getting old. Riku came in three times a day and gave us something to eat and then he left again. I was starting to agree with Gippal's little plan to sneak out when Riku brought us our dinner.

"Gippal, do remember yesterday when you wanted to sneak out?" I faced him again.

"Yeah, I also remember you shooting me down. Did you have a change of heart? Eh?" He elbowed me jokingly.

"Well I'm getting bored just sitting here. All day." I looked at him and pouted. I was sweaty and dirty. I hadn't had a shower since the morning of the sleepover and I was wearing the same clothes. I felt horrible and gross. I was also bored and I needed a change of scenery, Gippal and the occasional Riku were nice to look at, but after awhile too much of a good thing was too much of a good thing.

"Yeah you're pretty boring yourself. We should start planning." Gippal sat down on the twin-sized cot we now shared, Riku had failed to provide a second bed for Gippal. Anyways, Gippal sat on the cot and pulled out a small pen from his bulky pockets.

"Shut up Gippal, I'm not boring. Look at you, with your puffy shirt." I poked at one of his puffy-ish shoulders and giggled.

"You don't like this shirt? Fine I won't wear it then." Gippal smirked at me and took off his shirt, leaving me with a good view of his rock-hard abs and tanned skin. It took all of my concentration to keep my jaw from dropping. "Like what you see?" he teased me and threw me his shirt. It was really heavy and I was surprised he had put up with it so long in this humid room.

"Whatever Gippal, back to the planning." I shoved him lightly and he shoved me back.

"Cid isn't going to like it when he finds out his little princess is becoming violent." Gippal waved his finger at me and attempted a wink. I giggled and pushed him a little harder; he wasn't expecting this sudden shove and fell backwards on the bed. I fell on top of him and started tickling him. Who would have known it, but the guy was extremely ticklish.

"Ciiidddd'ssss Giiirrrrlllll! Sto-stop-p it p-pl-pleas-e!" he managed to say during short gasps for breath between laughs.

"What's my name? Come on say it! Say my name and I'll stop!" I loved having power over him.

"Fine! Ri-k-ku!" I grinned and stopped tickling him. I still stayed on top of him and collapsed onto his chest. He didn't seem to mind; in fact he stroked my hair lightly. Just as I felt my eyes closing in for a nap I heard the door open. I turned around and saw…

"Baralai?"

That's right Baralai was standing in the door looking at me lying on top of a shirtless Gippal, after taking time to digest the scene I noticed something was off with him. He had some sort of mark on his clothing. It looked like a heart with an X through it.

* * *

A/N: Those of you have played Kingdom Hearts know what that means!

Anyways I'm not sure who I want Rikku to end up with, so I'll let you guys **vote**, not saying that I'll defiantly go with your choice, but it will persuade me a lot.

**Gippal:** (_still without his shirt)_ you know you want to vote for me.

**Riku**: You know you want to not not not not not not not not not not not not not not vote for me! Beat that Gippal reverse psychology.

**Gippal:** You'll only confuse them.

**Baralai**: Vote for me

**Me:** you're not a contestant. Go back to the closet.

**Baralai:** Fine, but only if I can borrow your etch-a-sketch

**Gippal:** …

**Me**: …

**Riku:** …

**Baralai:** oookkkaaayyy then, review people and vote, for one of _them_…

And **thanks for the reviews** thus far, P.S. if you know any **good** **Disney villains** can you name some in your **reviews** or email me the names of some , because I need **lots of villains** for the upcoming chapters (foreshadowing…) and I don't want ones that are in Kingdom Hearts, because technically they were already killed by Sora in this story, except for Maleficent, because he is already at Hallow Bastion…if you played the game you get it…yea…I need to start my Trig homework now, so if you want a quicker update then review!

Lucy!


	6. The DEK

Disclaimer: as I have stated in previous chapters, I do not own the rights to this. If I did Kingdom Hearts 2 would be released already.

A/N: Yada yada yada makes perfect sense!

_Songs, singing, movies, television, etc. _

"…"dialog

Lalalalala- description, side notes, narrations, some random thoughts, etc….

* * *

(Rikku's POV)

"Baralai?"

That's right Baralai was standing in the door looking at me lying on top of a shirtless Gippal, after taking time to digest the scene I noticed something was off with him. He had some sort of mark on his clothing. It looked like a heart with an X through it.

"Baralai?" I asked him again. Something was off with the polite pacartor. I sat up and so did Gippal. He had his arms loosely wrapped around my waist, as if he was protecting me.

"Rikku your presence has been requested," his eyes shifted nervously, "the boss requests you be ready in four hours. They want you to wear this." He handed me an emerald green sundress. It had a long bodice and curved in at the waist. I fingered the delicate lacy-like stitching. It was a spectacular dress. Baralai exited the room and slammed the door, locking it once again.

"So Rikku, where do you plan on getting changed?" Gippal asked me with a smirk.

"In here, while you're on the balcony." I got off of his lap and pointed to the double doors. He sighed lightly and sulked over to the doors. I giggled slightly and peeled off my sweat-soaked clothing. I pulled the refreshing clean green dress over my head. It fit me perfectly, which made me wonder how did "the boss" know my size? Nevertheless the dress felt great and when I called Gippal back into the room his eyes widened and his jaw almost dropped at the sight of me.

"Like what you see?" I teased, mimicking his words from earlier. He nodded and licked his lips and trying a second attempt at winking. I sauntered over to the card table and nibbled on some leftover Macaroni and Cheese, which Gippal and Riku had eaten for lunch. It was the first bit of food I've had in three days. I had been avoiding the food Riku bought because whenever he came into the room I was busy pretending to be asleep in order to avoid any awkward encounters.

"It's good to see you eating. I was starting to get worried." I spun around at the sound of Riku's voice. I swallowed the food in my mouth and blushed despite myself.

"I…ate when you weren't in here." I lied and Gippal shook his head before putting an arm around my waist. I blushed harder and tensed at the feel of his touch. Riku looked at me angrily and looked at Gippal with a distrust and distaste in his eyes. I planned on explaining things to Riku, to try to work them out. I guess really I didn't have anything to explain to him, except the fact that I kissed him and failed to inform him that I had a boyfriend…

"No you never ate, until now. But that doesn't matter right now. You are coming with me. The boss requests your presence." Riku paused, watched me put down the forkful of food and slowly walk across the room to him. When I got there Riku smirked at Gippal and escorted me out of the room.

After we were a safe distance down the hallway I figured I could try to strike up a conversation. "So who exactly is "the boss"?" I asked, using my fingers as a prop to try to make my question some sort of semi-humorous ice breaker.

"You'll see soon enough." he said quietly. He looked strait ahead the whole time. Never losing focus. Always in one path never letting his guard down.

What was wrong with him anyways? It's not like that kiss meant anything to him. He seemed surprised when it happened and when she was kissing him she had some feeling in the pit of her stomach that he didn't like her the way she…liked him. Yes she could admit it to herself. She had a bit of a crush on Riku. Maybe not a bit of a crush, a HUGE crush. She couldn't act on instinct like some sort of animal though, she was Gippal's girlfriend and she had to remain loyal to him in this strange time. They were in some other world basically kidnapped and dangers unknown to them were probably lurking around every corner.

"We have arrived!" Riku shouted to a closed door. The doors were humongous and tall. Riku began pounding on them with immense power. They cracked open slightly and then after some hesitation they swung open to reveal some sort of Castle Chapel. Odd looking people were sitting at a long table. At the head of the table a woman with bright red hair sat. She had her elbows on the table and rested her head on her chin.

"Come in won't you darlings?" she cooed. Riku took my hand and led me to an empty seat at the foot of the table. He looked around the room, mumbled something about attending to the matters in the cell, and exited. Once again I felt myself shutter at the noise the doors made when they slammed behind me. She was wearing a tacky red dress and large earrings. _(a/n think 'The Rescuers Down Under')_

"Darling tell me, what is your name?" she cooed at me. I looked at her skeptically, shouldn't she already know that?

"Ri-Rikku…" I whispered. She heard me regardless and smiled. I looked around the table; it was filled with unique looking characters; a fat man with black hair, a shrewd looking business man, a woman with a salt-and-pepper hair style and fur coat, and a man with a pointed nose cowboy hat sitting next to a large lizard. I shivered slightly and waited for someone to speak. I had no idea why they had called me here. And was the red-headed woman 'Maleficent'?

"You can call me Madame Medusa. Going clockwise around the table please recite your name to Rikku here." She clapped her hands and pointed at the figures. The fat man's name was Radcliff, the shrewd looking man was Sykes, the salt-and-pepper woman's name was Curella De Vil, and the man with the cowboy hat was Percival McLeach. They all had some cruel look to them. The large doors swung open again and a pale-looking Chinese man entered. Madame Medusa glared at him and ordered him to speak his name to me.

"Shan-Yu." He mumbled. I nodded in reply and sank into the semi-soft seat. Madame looked at me accusingly and I sat up strait again.

"You might be wondering why we, the DEK, have called you here," she began. I felt courageous and interrupted her.

"Umm, what's the DEK stand for, or does it just not stand for anything?" I asked shyly. She laughed and snorted in response.

"I didn't come up with the name. Ask Maleficent that one." She snorted once more before continuing with what she was saying. I felt myself blushing slightly at her response. How was I supposed to ask Maleficent anything? "As I was saying before, we have called you here because we need your help. There is a door, not an ordinary door to be opened with a key," she continued. My mind wandered to Sora and his huge key. Riku had taken it from him, where was that key now?

"This door is opened with hearts. Not ordinary hearts though, the hearts of eight princess' of heart. We have found seven of them. We have the eighth in custody; however she remains heartless at the moment." She paused. "Surely you know of the heartless by now?"

"No ma'am." I put my head down in embarrassment. I had been locked up in that stupid room practically since I got here, how was I supposed to know about anything?

"Well then, you're just going to have to trust me. The heartless are monsters. Surely you've seen one before. They attack out of no where and attempt to steal your heart. The essence that makes you who you are. The attempt to bring you out of the light and into the darkness. And this darkness has great power. It is so powerful if one found the means to control it-" she stopped herself. "Never mind, I'm getting ahead of myself." She smiled slightly and patted her hair. Then she stood up and motioned for me. She never got to finish what she was going to tell me before she got off on the heartless rant. At least now I knew something, even if it didn't make sense.

"Baralai!" she called out. I felt my heart stop when I saw him. He was wearing chains on his wrists and ankles. His regular clothing had morphed into an all-black ensemble with the simple symbol of a heart with an X through it in the center. His blanched white hair was turning blacker every second and his eyes were empty. Wasn't he fine four hours ago?

"That's not Bara-" I began to say. I knew though deep down it was Baralai. My suspicions were secured when Madame put her hand to my face, revealing talon-like fingernails, and shushed me.

"He is gone. He is not the Baralai you perhaps knew, but all the same he is Baralai. And before long it will be too dangerous for him to be in the presence of us, he will be moved to the castle basement. Follow me and watch your step." She grabbed an object out of Baralai's chained hands and pushed him away. I looked down at my bare feet and hoped there wasn't going to be any outdoors travel involved in getting to wherever we were going. Luckily after about 2000 yards she stopped and pressed some sort of emblem on a wall. The emblem began to glow and the wall skirted aside. The room ahead was dark and sullen. It had an icy-cold air and sent chills down my spine. I noticed I bulge in Madame's dress on her thigh; it looked about the size of a gunner. She has a freaking gun in her garter? I shivered at the thought.

"Took you long enough." A voice boomed. I looked around for its owner.

"I didn't want to move things to fast on the girl." Madame flared back, but I noticed she was shifting uneasily.

"As long as she is here now." The voice boomed back.

"She is." Madame pushed me forward into the deep darkness. I gulped. Two hands came to rest on my shoulders. Two cold lifeless hands. I looked up into yellow-colored eyes and immediately shut my own eyes. I wanted to wake up from this nightmare. The person shook me suddenly and my eyes snapped open. I found myself in the same position, and even though I knew it before I couldn't deny myself any longer; this was for real.

"Are you…Maleficent?" I asked quietly. The figure didn't answer, but shoved me onto a hard, cold, stone table. I felt something warm beside me. Not something, someone. And not just anyone. Yuna.

* * *

A/N: mwhahahahahaha! Am I evil for dropping it there? I know I know. Anyways please review so I can get your feedback and begin writing the next chapter. Oh yea and hats off to Tsubame for naming some villains. I used some obsecure ones though, look up their names in Google images if you want a visual of them, they're from

**Radcliff:** Pocahontos

**Sykes:** Oliver and Company

**Madame Medusa:** Rescuers Down Under

**Shan-Yu:** Mulan

**Percival McLeach:** Rescuers Down Under

And **Cruella De Vil:** 101 Dalamtions

I chose them for their business-like sort of nature, because that's the type of villain I need for the story to work. You'll see, and you'll get a kick out of what DEK is :_giggles_: and please remember to vote!

Gippal: vote for me, because I was barely in this chapter!

Riku: vote for me because he already has Rikku in 1-2-3-4…67-68…I lost count, but he already has Rikku in a million stories!

Me: I have a concert to get to so can you guys please wrap this up?

Sora: I want to be in this part too! Good luck on your _long……………_ **hard……………..** **_solo…_**

Me: _starts to sweat: _ummm, got to go bye!

Lucy!


	7. Eavesdropping

**Disclaimer:** Please don't sue me, I mean no harm:puts hands up in air: I don't own any of this!

A/N: If a tree fell in a forest and no one was there to hear it, would it make a sound?

* * *

"Yuna?" I said softly. I looked at the figure lying down on the stone platform. The figure stirred and looked up at me.

"Rikku! Oh my god its you! I was so worried!" my cousin's voice filled the room and I noticed crystalline tears slowly spilling from her bi-colored eyes.

"Where is Tidus?" I asked her softly. I remembered Riku telling me previously that Tidus was with Riku.

"Tidus is…gone?" Yuna asked me before falling asleep with tears still coming out from under her closed eyelids. I touched a tear and felt my heart hurting. Why was Yuna chained in a dark room to a stone platform? Where was I and why was I here?

"No, he's not gone. At least I don't think he is. I thought he was with you." I said to her. Her eyes shot open again. The tears had stop and I could feel an anger engulfing her, she attempted to turn her head towards who I believed to be Maleficent.

"You. Where is he? Where is he!" Yuna screamed as she struggled against the bed. I stood up and took out my thief blades. "Rikku don't!" Yuna yelled in vain at me. I reluctantly put away the blades and sat back down.

"Tempers haven't we? Why don't you just cooperate and maybe you can be released to your little blonde lover faster." The yellow-eyed figure hissed. I cringed. Moving closer to Yuna I took hold of her limp hand in an attempt to comfort her.

"You will never win; I will never give my heart to you." Yuna said through closed teeth. The figure laughed.

"Your attempts will be in vain." The figure seized my wrist and thrust me towards the doorway.

"You, go back to Riku and make him happy. Make sure he does his work properly. And my name is Maleficent." She snarled. I decided to run away. Far away, I had little idea what was going on and why Yuna was in such a morbid state. I turned to bolt away when I felt myself run into something hard and soft. I looked up into Riku's eyes.

"Come on Rikku, you heard what she said." He said to me. I looked at him with betrayed eyes and only met his deep blue ones. It would be hard staying mad at him with those eyes, even if he worked for some radical evil group called the DEK.

"I'll come back for you Yuna! Trust me!" I yelled to her before leaving the dark room. My cry was met by Maleficent horrid laugh echoing through the room.

"Riku, are you taking me back to that sweaty room?" I ran after him folding the ends of my long gown in my hands to prevent myself from tripping over its flowing skirt.

"Only if you want to go back there." He replied. I stopped a bit surprised at his answer. We came to an intersection of hallways.

"Well…choose wisely." He snickered and seemed to take pleasure in my discomfort.

"I-I uhhh…" I decided to weigh my options. I could A) go back to the sweaty room with my hunky boyfriend who was crazy for me. B) let Riku lead me on some wild adventure to who knows where, even though he worked for the people that were responsible for holding my cousin in a "torture" chamber and responsible for all of us Sprians being in this world in the first place. Anybody in their right mind would choose A, right? Well I guess I'm insane because I chose B.

"Take me wherever you want, as long as its not that room." I answered with a sigh. He smiled, not a smirk, a smile.

"I was hoping you'd say that." He took my hand very gently, as if it was some sort of delicate chinaware and led me down a hallway to the left. I held my breathe waiting for my unknown fate to begin.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

(Yuna POV)

"Your cousin is a feisty one isn't she?" Maleficent sneered at me after Rikku left with that muscular henchman of hers. Poor Rikku my heart went out to her, who knows what that guy was doing to her now?

"You vile thing, don't you dare talk about my cousin like that! EVER again!" I spat in her general direction. As the days pass I get less and less conscience about being polite and being let out of this prison for good behavior. These people might be nice at first but they play a serious game of hardball.

"It would be in you best interest to not talk to me like that ever again." she retorted. I smiled inwardly; I knew I had to be getting to her. For some reason I had a great value to them and she was full aware of my value, thus making it so any harm that might come to me would be ten times worse to her.

"Can you leave me alone for once; I'd like to get some sleep in private without your wicked eyes starring at me." I felt so out of character. I was being rude and extremely nonchalant. I was never like this back home. Back home I had let everybody push me around; Paine had been trying to help me overcome that burden. Speaking of Paine, where was she now?

"Fine, seeing as I coated your chains with an element-proof sealant there is no chance of you escaping. Sweet dreams." she said harshly before leaving the room. I heard the chamber's door close behind her. I looked around the room even though the lighting was terrible. I noticed there were other beds with figures lying on them. They haven't moved since I arrived here. They must hold some value too… then, they must be here for the same purpose as me. My ears perked up at the sound of a conversation outside the thin walls.

"The boss said to take it slow with the blondes. He said that if we work them to hard we'll never find out the information we need." I heard a voice whisper loudly.

"Lot of nonsense that is, look at Riku, he is already escaping the boss' influence. Without the power of those special hearts the boss will not be able to draw from the darkness anymore. And you and I both know what that means. Besides they have valuable information about the keybarer or so I've heard." another replied. Who were the blondes they were referring to? Rikku, Tidus…?

"It's that entire girl's fault. Lot of good she is doing us, she is the reason he is escaping the boss so easily! He has fallen for her any fool with eyes can see that!" the other retorted.

"She has some high and mighty boyfriend. He is here you know, we could use him to our advantage. We could make Riku mighty jealous, we could make him work for her and in the mean time get all the information from them." the second suggested. Were they referring to Rikku and Gippal? Had Riku fallen for…Rikku? What would Gippal do if he knew, probably kill Riku.

"Riku would kill us; he still has the darkness' powers. However,** if** the boss ordered us to use the girl's boyfriend to our advantage and Riku must obey the boss…" the other trailed off.

"Then it's settled. We should go tell Madame Medusa first and she'll run it by the boss." The two men left my doorway and ran off. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. Was I also going to be used somehow to draw powers from darkness? What was the darkness anyways? And I was a princess? What kind of value did I really have, I knew I had some but…seriously…

Maybe I should just get some rest. And with that thought in mind my eyes fluttered closed and I drifted into a sound sleep.

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(Rikku's POV)

"Why didn't you just take me to** this** room in the first place?" I sighed lying on the soft bed. The room Riku had brought me to this time was much more comfortable. It was a reasonable temperature and well lit. The bed wasn't a cot but a soft queen-sized bed with lots of throw pillows. There was a balcony, like the last room, and large windows. The room was a little smaller then the last one and didn't have wooden benches in the corners. It did, however, have a cherry wood table with four cushioned chairs. A chandelier hung above the table and there was even a bathroom complete with shower and soap.

"Because you wouldn't appreciate it as much as you do now." he answered as he looked out of one of the floor length windows.

"So what I would smell better. Speaking of which I'm going to take a shower. You don't have a blow-dryer by any chance?" I looked over at his back facing me. He turned around and smirked.

"I think Madame Medusa might have one, I'll go get one for you. I'll also see if I can get you a change of clothes." he turned to me and began to leave. I hated to see him leave the room; he made me feel comfortable for some reason.

"Okay, thank you," I said quietly, "for everything." he gave me a small smile and trotted out of the room, softly closing the door behind him. I sighed and went into the small bathroom, locking the door behind me, and turned on the warm water.

I could literally feel layers of dirt being shed from my skin leaving it to be the wonderful healthy tan skin I had forgotten once existed there. I scrubbed my greasy blonde hair and massaged my scalp taking in the wonderful tropical scent of the shampoo that had been left in the bathroom. I noticed a fluffy white towel placed on the towel rack and my eyes caught something embroidered on the towel. It said _Aerith. _Who was Aerith, was she the 'boss'? Or was she just some person who used to live here? Whatever the case was she had great taste in shampoo and that towel looked really soft.

After stepping out the shower I drew little hearts in the mirror's steam. I looked at my clean hands and wrapped the towel around my body. 'I wonder if Riku got back with that blow-dryer yet.' I opened the door a small crack and peeked my head out of the bathroom. I noticed Riku sitting at a table reading something that resembled a newspaper.

"Psst, Riku did you get the blow-dryer?" I whispered to him. Why was I whispering?

"Yeah," he stood up picking up a bundle of stuff that had been on the floor next to him, "I also managed to get you some clean clothes and some toothpaste and stuff." He handed me the stuff. I opened the door wider to try to bring the stuff in. Trying to hold up my Aerith towel with one hand, and trying to bring a huge pile of stuff into the room with the other hand wasn't exactly easy, but I did it.

Sitting down in a corner of the bathroom I began to sort out the stuff Riku had brought for me. A pink hairbrush, a small blow-dryer, a tube of Crest toothpaste, really long white socks, a green hair band, a red cloak, a leather jacket, a green mid-drift shirt, kaki shorts, a pink sundress, and a pink hair ribbon. 'I wonder where all these clothes came from.' I chose the thigh-high socks and kaki shorts paired with the green mid-drift shirt and headband as my attire. I then blow-dried my hair and used my old beads and hair-ties I had been previously wearing to tie it back in my usual style. I emerged from the bathroom with the leftover clothes and green dress. Riku raised his eyebrows at my clothing choices.

"You look just like that black-haired girl back in Traverse Town." he told me before returning to the stack of papers he was engrossed in.

"I'll take that as a compliment." I said. I decided to test him, to see if he really has feelings for me. I came up behind him and threw my arms around his hunched over back. He looked up from his paper for a moment with a surprise expression.

"Rikku what do you think you're doing?" he said, but I could hear something in his voice that told me he liked me hugging him.

"Hugging you." I said simply. He set down the stack of papers and brushed my arms off his back. He turned and faced me with a softened expression.

"Last time I checked you had a boyfriend." he told me. I felt my body sinking into the ground, as if I was melting from embarrassment and from the fact that for the past couple of days even when I was with Gippal I was constantly thinking of Riku.

"I had a boyfriend, but he…he…sometimes he's just so…I don't know how to explain it." I sighed. That hadn't helped me one bit now I felt like I was two feet tall, especially with the way Riku was looking at me.

"Right, he's just so you don't know how to explain?" he asked me. I felt so stupid.

"Never mind, you'll never understand." I turned around so only my back was facing him. I could almost see him rolling his blue eyes at me.

"I think I might. You see back on the islands I had two friends. Well, two really good friends. And they liked each other. The problem was the girl, I liked her two. But my best friend, he was so naive to the fact that we both liked the same girl. He never noticed and she did. She knew I liked her but also knew she wasn't supposed to be with me, she was supposed to be with my best friend, don't ask it had something to do with destiny and poapou fruit. Anyways, she never expressed her feelings on the issue either way because if she did it could ruin all of our friendships. Lot of goof that did us or friendship is basically ruined now anyways. But that's only cause my best friend is traitor" I turned and looked at him. He had come from an island? Was he brought here from his native land too? There was so much I had assumed about Riku's past and so much I had to really learn.

"What were their names? Your friends I mean." I said, lightly touching his elbow.

"Their names… were Sora and Kairi." he said. He took my hand that was resting on his forearm into his hand. We stood in the center of the room for a moment, in complete silence. I was trying to process what he just said, he was reminiscing the past. Sora was the happy boy who had saved my life a couple of days ago. Kairi, I had heard her name mentioned before. Was his story meant to tell me to give up on Gippal, to give into my gut instinct and go for it? Or was he trying to tell me if I took the plunge with him it would most likely end in disaster?

"I see. You say Sora betrayed you?" I wanted a deeper input on the friendship's breakup.

"Well, I was going to leave the islands with him and Kairi. However when our world was unlocked to the darkness he did not spend his time looking for me and Kairi. Instead he easily replaced us with new companions, a duck and a dog-like thing. They abandoned him shortly before you came; they were in search of their king. He replaced me and even fought me; he meant to hurt me and goofed off instead of looking for Kairi. Simply, he betrayed me." Riku said and then he laid down on the bed. A weary expression crossed his stern face.

"Wow, you must have wanted to get that off your chest for a long time." I said, sitting down next to him.

"Yeah, that felt good. I think I might be relying on the darkness too much though. I think in some respects Sora was right." he said as he was half-asleep. What was that supposed to mean? He was relying on some sort of dark powers? I decided once he woke up I ask him what he meant be that…but for now there was nothing to be done.

I stood up and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like some hyper-active teenager with an odd taste in clothing. I glanced back at Riku, only to see he was sound asleep with his arms flung widely at his sides. I smiled a bit, thinking of how funny he looked just about now. 'If only I had a camera. This would be some serious blackmail material.'

I decided to pass the time by looking out the window and trying to figure out exactly what was going on in this world.

There was some group called the DEK, they had some kind of leader. Was their leader Maleficent? And what did the leader want? I was pretty sure it was something to do with Yuna. I let my thoughts wander for a few moments longer before closing my eyes and subcoming to a deep sleep, on the windowsill. I woke up later to find that Riku had draped the red cloak around me to keep me warm. 'He really must care'. And with that thought in mind I fell back asleep, a smile plastered on my face.

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**A/n:** hope you likey likey! That was six pages, I was trying to make it longer but my fingers got tired. And this hilarious Spanish Soap Opera is on, so I think I'll eat olives and watch it, anyways

**Gippal:** I wasn't in this chapter! Lucy sent me to the grocery store to buy her four kinds of olives instead!

**Riku:** nahahahaha _:sticks out tongue and taunts Gippal:_

**Me:** hey you have a better chance of being in the story if you buy my olives…

**Reno (yes, our favorite FFVII red-head):** then here are seven cases.

**Me:** nice try but you don't even begin to fit into the plot

**Reno;** _:pouts:_ fine but no more olives for you!

**Sora**: what plot?

**Me:** why I oughtta! _:makes fist at Sora:_

**Riku**: you know you couldn't hurt a fly, and by the way the commercial break is over so if you are planning on watching the show then I suggest…

_:I fly in front of the TV grabbing Reno and the olives and bringing them with me:_

**Sora & Riku & Gippal:** _:run away:_

**Reno:** help?

**_REVIEW_** please! And you can still vote!

Lucy!


	8. Best Friends

Disclaimer: and you actually thought I owned everything! Well I don't own this! Ha, in your face Matt, just cause I horde pencils doesn't mean…never mind, just remember I don't own the rights to this!

A/N: If I had a nickel for every author's note on I'd be a rich girl. Nanananana…(I like that song btw)

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(Rikku's pov)

I woke up with a jolt. It felt like the whole building was shaking, like some sort of earthquake was jumbling the land. I threw the deep red cloak on the ground and stood up, gripping the wall the whole time.

"Riku…Riku? Are you there?" I looked around the whole room, still feeling the shaking sensation. Had Riku abandoned me, left me here…to die? No Riku would never, but still why was I here alone? I light flickered on the other side of the room causing me to nearly jump out of my skin. "Who-whose there?"

"It me, Sora. Paine is here too." The young boy replied from the corner in which he was hiding.

"Sora," I hissed, "why did you have to scare me like that?" I stopped holding onto the wall, even though I still felt the shaking all around me.

"We didn't know if anyone else was in here, unlike you we're not exactly welcome houseguests. We had to re-arrange an entire effing library just to get here." Paine retorted. Sora took a few steps away from the warrior, sitting himself awkwardly onto the bed. I looked at the messed up sheets and strewn pillows. I rolled my eyes, if Riku was going to leave he could have at least made the bed he slept in, and how did he manage to mess it up that badly in one night?

"So Rikku have you been here the whole time…in Yuffie's clothes?" he looked over to me. I looked down at the shorts and green belly shirt I was wearing.

"Not exactly, and I just put on these clothes yesterday because my other clothes were filthy." I stood up and walked over to the door they had entered my room through.

"Oh, I see. So are you ready to get a move on it?" Sora said happily brushing past me and walking into the center of the hallway.

"I think I'll just-" I was about to say 'stay here' but Paine took my arm and practically dragged me into the hallway. "What was that for?" I asked her, she blinked at me.

"I'm not going to let you stay here under their control. You're coming with us, don't you even want to try to save Yuna and Kairi?" she answered me calmly.

"I guess…but who is Kairi?" Paine didn't reply and neither did Sora so I just let it drop. I sighed and walked slightly behind Paine letting my head look behind us every once in awhile to see if we were being followed.

After awhile we came to a "dead end", but that meant nothing to Sora, he just started pushing every brick on the wall, hoping they might trigger some sort of secret passageway.

"Sora, you're getting us no where." Paine complained after a couple of minutes.

"Yeah, they're bound to catch us. This is taking for-eve-errrrr" I stressed the last word. Sora looked up at me with the expression of a kicked puppy dog. "Er-Sora?" I looked at his quavering face and took a step backwards. I was in no mood to deal with emotional outbursts by this guy. "Are you- are you okay?" I asked him again while I pushed a stray hair out of my face.

"I'm-I'm fine." he said softly. I sighed with relief and looked around the hallway. Suddenly I heard Sora start talking again, and rather loudly I might add. "Who am I kidding? No I'm not! I'm not alright! First my home is destroyed and one of my best friends is a heartless, I have no power to control anything anymore and now these people who are supposedly on **my** side aren't doing a darn thing but making me feel bad. So no Rikku, no I'm not fine!" Sora stood up and gave both Paine and I angry expressions. He stormed off in the other direction and disappeared around a corner. I shuttered with fear and guilt.

"Damn." Paine muttered. I turned to her and nodded wistfully.

"I guess we should find…him?" I half asked half stated. Paine shook her head.

"Trust me he wants to be alone right now. If we follow him we'll only make him run away, and he might possibly run into a dangerous situation." she said. I silently agreed.

"Then what do you purpose we do? We can't just sit here at a dead-end. Yuna is out there you know. Gippal, Tidus, and Baralai are too…even Wakka is out there…" I stopped and noticed Paine tense a little when I mentioned everyone's names. I felt a little tense just thinking of all the people who were missing. Come to think of it we had it harder **not **being in captivity then they did. We were expected to look for them; they just sat around and waited. At least Gippal was probably just sitting around, maybe not Baralai…

"We should get moving then. There is only one stone left he hasn't pressed, wouldn't hurt to try it." Paine said quietly. Paine pressed the last stone and sure enough is swung open. I rolled my eyes and mentally reminded myself to apologize to Sora next time I saw him. If there was going to be a next time.

"It would figure too, the last stone. This seems like something you'd see in one of those really bad HBO specials." I huffed. Looking around the new surroundings I felt all my anger swell and my blood began to broil. "Somebody owes me a really big explanation."

Paine nodded, "couldn't have said it better myself."

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_(Yuna POV) _

"I told you once and I told you again I'm not giving into you, not now not ever!" I screamed at the creature-like-woman's face but kept my eyes shut. She muttered something under her breathe and left my bedside, and I couldn't help but feel a little victorious for the first time in five days.

Then reality struck, I've been here for five whole days. I could suddenly feel a warm light creeping over my face; someone had opened the door again letting the warmth into the icy cold chamber. Firm hands grasped my arms and yanked me up from the stone platform. The same hands undid my chains and threw a burlap sack over my head hastily, muttering something about not screaming. I complied and used whatever glimmers of hope were left in me to silently pray that these people were coming to my rescue.

I felt them dragging me down endless hallways with a rushed sense to them. I felt their warm breathe on my back as they paused, presumably wondering which direction to head next. I heard their solid footsteps and didn't flinch or shy away from their firm, warm grasp. Something deep inside told me not to, that little nagging voice known as my conscience told me they were okay and I decided to for once listen to my gut instinct. Besides anything would be better then being chained in a cold room next to dormant princesses all day. Even if I was supposedly one.

My abductors/rescuers, I wasn't sure which, halted and opened a door. I heard the creaking noise as the rusted hinges swung open. They guided me into the room and gently shut the door behind us. I felt their arms being removed from my arms and someone lifted the burlap sack off my head.

I allowed my eyes to remain closed for a moment; I wasn't quite ready to take on my new surroundings but then I gathered up the last shreds of my courage and opened my eyelids slowly.

"Yunie?" Rikku stood in front of me stupefied. She sounded somewhat angry and she glared at me. "This is who was at the top of your list? Yunie?" she asked, but her question was clearly not directed at me.

"She holds a vital part of the key Miss Rikku, we cannot continue without her you that as well as I." one of the men next to me answered stiffly. Miss Rikku? Since when was she regarded with honors around here, last time I saw her she was being held prisoner as well.

"I don't care what she holds I don't want to see her in my presence!" Rikku screamed at them and they bowed their heads slightly. Rikku was beginning to scare me and I shuffled uncomfortably.

"I don't mean to interrupt or anything, but did I miss something?" I asked bravely. I noticed that the soldiers scowled at me with utter disgust before leaving Rikku and I alone. I never knew being alone in a room with her would feel so…dangerous.

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(Sora POV)

'Good for nothing Rikku…and Paine.' I walked slowly down the hall only to be greeted with loud footsteps. With only my instinct to guide me I quietly slipped down a small corridor and hid behind a lift's control mechanism. I looked up in time to see guards escorting a person, most likely a girl judging by the skirt they were wearing, down a hallway. The person had a burlap sack on their head and showed no struggle with the guards. I silently hoped they would be okay before I touched the lift's operating pad and ascended into the castle chapel.

A cold wind greeted me followed by a hissing laughter. I looked around to find that I was utterly alone, except for a gleaming treasure chest on a high ledge. Smirking I ran forward and easily jumped the ledge, then I crept forward ever so slightly so I was standing directly in front of the chest. For a moment I wondered how to open it without my keyblade, but that moment soon passed and I easily flipped the latch up. Inside the chest was a wonderful keychain. It was spidery and black with black and blue stars as its trail. I looked it over and noticed the words _Oblivion _inscribed in it. I hooked the keychain on the belt loop of my pants, hoping it might provide me with some extra strength until I reclaimed my keyblade. Grinning I eagerly hopped down from the ledge.

I noticed now that I was not alone, but I was accompanied by none other then Riku.

"We meet again; this must be some sort of twisted fate." Riku sneered at me. He was dressed differently know and in his hands he held a black keyblade.

"What has happened to you?" I looked at him painfully this boy was once my best friend and now he looked as if he wouldn't think twice before killing me.

"Riku please," I begged of him, but he simply put up his hand and smiled a vague smile. Then he reached behind his back and pulled out my keyblade with his other hand. Once he had a firm grip on both keyblades he smiled stupidly and I almost laughed, if circumstances had been different then I would have described him as looking like a child with too much candy.

"Here," he tossed me my keyblade. I caught it, slightly shocked and slightly suspicious. "I wouldn't want to win this fight if the odds were completely unfair." he said with a grin. I hooked my new found Oblivion keychain onto the blade hurriedly. Riku was patient and waited for me without another word. Maybe there was some hope for him yet.

"Riku we don't have to do this, we don't have to fight." I begged him one last time.

"Sora as much as I wish you were right I can't believe you anymore. The darkness can change people it has power over their hearts, it is the heat's true essence. I might have believed you before, yesterday even," he smiled slightly, "but seeing as the power can grasp everyone I cannot believe you." he said sadly. I struggled to understand what he was talking about.

"It doesn't have power over me; if anything I have power over the light! And Kairi will be okay Riku, don't worry, she wouldn't want us fighting." I smiled cheesily and Riku returned it with anger.

"This isn't about Kairi anymore, well maybe it is to you but not me. They took Rikku, they came and somehow used her and now she isn't the same…she never will be again. Not unless I can control the darkness. They said…they said she came to them." Riku stated somberly. I now understood the look in his eyes; he was grieving. He loved Rikku, any fool could see. She had been manipulated and somehow they had turned her to darkness. Hopefully the change was temporary.

"Then how will fighting me help? If you answer it's because the boss says so don't bother. Think for a moment Riku, who is the one turning people to darkness, the boss. If we can find the boss we can save Rikku, we can also try to reverse the affects the darkness is having on Kairi, and maybe we can somehow put out worlds back together. I know now that we need to seal this keyhole and eliminate the heartless and the darkness once and for all. I think its time we had peace and true light again, don't you? What do you say, join me…as friends?" I paused for a moment, unsure of his answer but all at once he let out a sharp scream. I saw some form of Riku escaping it seemed from the body he was in. It was all very surreal, but then it was over and Riku was lying on the floor next to me panting, his black keyblade had disappeared.

"All right we'll do this. For Rikku." he said confidently.

I smiled, "For Kairi." We slapped each other high-five and ran off in the direction I had originally come. Little did we know we were being watched, and what were looking for was closer then it seemed.

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A/n: awwww? Riku and Sora working together:claps hands: I'm so happy now that I finally got to this point in the story where Riku can start to become a good guy!

Lucy!


	9. The Begining to an End

Disclaimer: I do not any of the characters involved in this fic. I have made no profit off of this.

A/N: I know who the couple is going to be, just wait and see…I know exactly how it's going to end, but first I have to finish up the middle…

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_(Sora POV) _

We walked in silence for a bit before Riku finally spoke.

"You know, Sora, I've been thinking a lot lately, about what happened. You know, between you, me, and Kairi. Back on the island…" he looked at me before continuing, I nodded in response.

"Yeah…and about that, I'm really sorry it worked out the way it did. If I had paid any attention to you and Kairi's feelings we could have avoided a sticky situation." I admitted. He nodded as if that was the reply he was looking for. We continued on in a comfortable silence. Then we came to a fork, I stopped and looked at Riku and he immediately headed left.

"We'll want to find the DEK first, and then after finishing them off we can free Gippal and Wakka and have them join us. Then we can take on Maleficent and go from there." he said, breaking the silence. It seemed like a pretty reasonable plan so I agreed without hesitation. Then a wild thought jumped into my mind.

"Riku, I know some people that might be able to help us. If you want to take a little detour I think we might have a better chance in succeeding." I looked up at him hopefully and he raised his eyebrows.

"How long might this detour take?" he said finally.

"I can't really say for sure, but no more then three or four hours." I nodded, that sounded about right.

"Three or four hours? What exactly do you have in mind?" he said, raising his voice a little as he spoke.

"Well…you see…back in Traverse Town there are some pretty decent fighters. Their names are Yuffie, Leon, and Aerith. I think if we went and talked to them we could get them to come and help us." I bit my bottom lip and awaited his reply.

"We can't afford to lose all that time if they don't come, so I'm going to have to say it's not a very good idea." he answered. I sighed heavily and trotted after him. Soon we approached huge door. "Play along," he said, "they still think I'm in their side." I nodded and we entered the conference room.

"Well well well, if it isn't the traitor." Madame Medusa scoffed when we entered. I felt defeated, that wasn't exactly the reaction Riku and I were hoping for.

"How do you know?" I blurted out and Riku slapped the back of my head for my stupidity. I rubbed the spot and scowled at him.

"Everyone knows darlings, its old news. But now that you're both here, why don't you make yourselves comfortable." She motioned towards two empty chairs and we sat in them stiffly. I looked around the room at the shifty looking figures who were all huddled over some sort of paper.

"So Madame, you seem pretty confident in yourself. Asserting yourself as the position of leader in the DEK Class 1." Riku sneered. Her eyes darted from her paper and a jealous expression glossed over her face.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked him, even though her voice told that she already knew the answer.

"Oh nothing. It's just that if Sora and I were to, say challenge your group here to some sort of…duel…" Riku finished lamely.

"We were?" I asked Riku elbowed me in the side quickly and I gagged, causing Madame to raise her over plucked eyebrows.

"Yes Sora, we were." Riku answered calmly. I bit my lip and nodded. The DEK looked at us confused as whether to accept our challenge or burst into fits of laughter. They chose laughter.

Suddenly the lights flicked off and on and a new figure appeared in the room, it was none other then Maleficent.

"Madame I told you to bring them to me as soon as they arrived, enough of this sniveling the boss requests their up most presence at the feast tonight." Maleficent hissed before exiting the room into a pit of darkness.

"You heard her," Madame said to the other members of the DEK, "show our honored guests to their rooms." She smiled a smile of absolute evil and suddenly we were grabbed tightly at each arm. I began to struggle, but I noticed Riku wasn't, unless he was still under the influence of the darkness, which was unlikely, he was simply allowing them to take him. I decided to give up struggling and play along as well, for now.

867-5309

_Later that day…_

Riku and I had been taken to a large room in the castle. It was unnaturally humid and the room had little furniture. A simple cot, a small table, some wooden benches in the corners, and a small half-bath with no sink. I guess when they built the castle people hadn't heard of hygiene.

Riku was sitting on the balcony, which was connected to the room. He was staring up at the silver sky; I went out and joined him.

"So Riku, do you think the plan will work?" I said as I leaned on the balcony's thick marble railing.

"It has to." he continued gazing at the stars. I shrugged, it wasn't like Riku to be so somber and frankly it was beginning to scare me, I thought of my favorite line from that stupid book I had to read in English class last year, _Cat's Cradle_, and I decided to give it a try.

"You know Riku, she said you mind was in tune to the biggest music in the universe, the music of the stars," I paused and Riku raised his silvery eyebrows, "crap." I finished and Riku chuckled slightly.

"You know I hated that book and failed the essay assignment," he paused and started laughing uncontrollably, "thanks Sora I needed that." I chuckled and secretly congratulated myself for remembering that little inside joke we shared. Then I left the balcony and went inside the large room to begin getting ready for the feast. It was time to put our little plan into action.

LauraismybestfriendeverandTristanisthebestguyanyonecouldevermeetandIlovethemboththeyaresocoolbutIguessyou'dhavetose

_The Feast_

(Normal POV)

Sora and Riku stepped into the large room where Maleficent and the boss were waiting to accommodate them. All show-downs between good and bad started this way. The eerie feast, the double meanings behind everything, nothing what it seems to be. It was way to cliché and James Bond for Sora. Riku, however, loved almost every minute of it. The almost being for the fact that he was practically in love with a girl who had some dark powers controlling her brain at the moment…that sounded promising…

"Welcome boys, the boss will accommodate you in a moment. Please be seated." Maleficent gestured at the chairs on either side of the cherry wood dining table. Riku and Sora took their seats cautiously.

Suddenly two heavy doors flung open and a dark figure approached the table. Sora leaned forward in his chair to try to get a better view of this much talked about "boss".

"Welcome," his baritone voice boomed, "I do hope you're comfortable." Riku sunk into the chair and crossed his arms over his chest, he noticed Sora was fingering his keyblade lightly, the guards had attempted to take it away from him, but it kept disappearing and ending up in Sora's hands again. The whole episode turned out to be quite comical and Riku found himself chuckling slightly just thinking about it.

"You think this is funny?" Sora whispered quietly, Riku bit his tongue and stopped laughing. Sora rolled his eyes, something he rarely did, and turned his attention back to the "boss".

"As I was saying, _boys_, we are pleased to have you with the program. Welcome aboard." He raised a champagne glass and Maleficent did the same. Riku and Sora nodded dumbly and raised their glasses as well. The boss, Maleficent, and the boys all took a sip at once. Maleficent grinned when Riku and Sora were knocked out immediately afterwards.

"Never thought he'd actually fall for that," Maleficent mused, "guards take them to the dungeon of the hearts at once! We only have a limited time before they wake up and realize what is going on!" The boss disappeared back into the shadows and exited the room once again through the heavy doors.

_In the "Dungeon of the Hearts"_

A familiar silver-haired warrior stood in a corner of the dungeon, to her left was a large staircase; to her right was a door. She heard the voices getting increasingly louder and heavy footsteps were stomping down the hall, she sucked in her breath and waited silently when the guards opened the door. Next to her was a ninja with short black hair and a couple of shruiken stars. She rocked ever-so-slightly on the balls of her feet and silently waited as the guards entered. Across the room a gunblade wielder and a blitzball player stood next to each to each other. Their brown and blonde heads hidden among the shadows being cast by the eerie lighting.

Paine, the silver haired one, put two fingers above her head and waved them slightly. Leon, the gunblade wielder nodded. Yuffie, the ninja, and Tidus, the blitzball player, crouched into position.

The door opened and Paine could see Sora and Riku's "unconscious" bodies being carried to the stone platforms at the top of the small flight of stairs. Yuffie crept along the wall, using every one of her ninja skills to her advantage. Soon, as expected, Maleficent along with the rest of the DEK entered the room.

Step one of 'Operation Crazy Eights' (Yuffie was responsible for the name):

Turn the DEK against each other

And it wasn't going to be easy; they were somehow a close-knit group. After all they had been working together for awhile on this plan to control darkness and whatnot; you'd think the bond they've formed would be rock hard. That was about to be tested.

The members of the DEK all took a seat at a small rectangular table, with Maleficent at the head and Madame at the foot. They began mumbling to each other incoherently. Yuffie took this as her cue and walked right into the center of the room. Tidus held his breath and put his fingers around the elctromarble in his pocket.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late," Yuffie said panting as she pretended to be out of breath, "the boss held me up for awhile, you know?" The rest of the group looked dumbstruck.

Madame finally spoke up, "Excuse me, do I know you?"

"I'm the great ninja Yuffie! Your boss, he's my old leader. We go way back, so when I came here he let me join your group. He told me I'd be a great class one leader. And by the way, he told me to take the seat at the foot of the table. Sorry lady." Yuffie lied. Madame blushed a little and began to move out of her seat. Yuffie smiled in her mind, if there was one thing she was good at it was lying.

"Wait a minute; tell then _Yuffie _if you're in the DEK, what does it stand for?" Madame asked coldly. Yuffie rolled her eyes and gave her a doesn't-everyone-know-that-look.

"Disney's Evil Klan, of course." Yuffie sighed and silently thanked her spying skills. Leon and Tidus looked at each; both were thinking the same thing, 'WTF, Disney's Evil Klan?'

Madame shot a look of hatred at Yuffie and got out of her seat huffily. Yuffie smiled and sat down, putting her feet up on the table and leaning backwards in the chair. "Shan-Yu could you and Sykes fetch me a Rum-n-Coke please?" Madame asked. Both members rose from their seats slowly, only to be stopped by a clicking noise Yuffie began making with her tongue.

"Where do you two think you're going?" she chided. They looked at Yuffie uncomfortably which made her smile inwardly.

"To get her a drink she asked us to." Sykes said almost inaudibly. At the other end of the room Paine held up three fingers, a signal for Tidus and Leon. They placed their fingers around the handles of their weapons in preparation for the battle. All they had to wait for was Yuffie's cue.

"I have an idea," Yuffie said smiling brightly, "why don't all of you go down to that bar at the other side of the castle and wait for me and Maleficent here to catch up. We have to discuss our takings in this gig." Yuffie counted to ten mentally and waited for the blow-up.

"What do you mean gig?" Madame questioned bitterly. "This plan has been in the making for months and years. The boss happened to stumble upon our organization early on and offered us some power if we provided the capture of the eight princesses, I'm sure you know about them by know. We have been working night and day for a year now, this is not just some gig." She fumed and Yuffie wanted to do a touchdown dance.

"Are you sure your whole organization feels that way? I'm pretty sure I heard McLeach and Radcliffe talking about how they thought you were an old hag, they're glad I'm in charge now." Yuffie smiled and Radcliffe stood up to defend himself. Before he could even open his mouth Madame had whipped out a pistol from her garter and was aiming it directly at Radcliffe's forehead.

"I-I she, don't…" Radcliffe stuttered to defend himself. If Yuffie wasn't acting she would be rolling around on the floor laughing right now.

"Don't ever talk to me again." Madame's voice dripped of venom and she shot Radcliffe. He didn't move for a moment but then he fell over. Yuffie cringed and saw a red bubbling liquid emerge from his mouth and a red heart drift out of his body. Suddenly Shan-Yu punched Madame forcefully in the back of her head.

"How dare you destroy his honor." Shan-Yu snarled. Madame and Shan-Yu threw punches back and forth for awhile before McLeach and Skyes stepped in to back up either of their co-DEK members. Yuffie didn't dare look at Maleficent face at the moment. Maleficent herself had been sitting quietly in the chair watching the whole episode unfold. She had to hand it to Yuffie; she knew how to start a riot. She also knew Yuffie had something up her sleeves, but she didn't know what. All she could think of right now was that with all the simple fools of the DEK gone and all the princesses already captured, even if they weren't able to be used at the moment, she would have more power for herself.

McLeach had joined Radcliffe via Shan-Yu's fists of fury hitting him in the temple. Madame was nearing loss of consciousness and Skyes was doubled over with a bloody nose. The plan was working, the DEK were turned against each other and soon the DEK would be completely eliminated. Yuffie wanted to smile so bad, but instead she sat on top of the table and waited for them to finish each other off.

"I practically raised you!" Madame shouted as she shot McLeach's arm with her small revolver. He winced in pain, but continued to throw punches at her. "I'm warning you little brother." She added, as she cocked her gun and aimed it at his forehead. He didn't stop and Shan-Yu punched him in the neck. Yuffie closed her eyes when she heard the gunshot and opened them to see Shan-Yu and McLeach with a bullet through their foreheads. Madame was trembling and didn't notice Skye's coming up behind her with a small dagger.

"This one is for Radcliffe!" he yelled mock-heroically, Yuffie almost burst out laughing, those two hated each other she could tell.. Madame turned around to see him charging at her and she fumbled with her gun. It was too late. Skye's stabbed Madame in the heart and took his dagger out of her. His eye's reflect murder and he charges. This time his target is Yuffie.

* * *

A/N: Not much of a cliffhanger, but I didn't want to drag this chapter on to long. Besides everything would just result in another fight scene or whatever. So anyway…about the _Cat's Cradle _reference. Yes it's a real line in a real book, I have to read it for Summer required reading and I felt like sticking it in there. I found it funny, but I guess you'd have to read it to understand…btw has anyone read _Cat's Cradle_? If so, maybe you found it funny too. So…I know who the couple is. Salut! 

Lucy!


	10. Story Time

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to anything used in this fic, except the name of the DEK, that was all me ;).

A/N: I should be studying for finals right now, but where's the fun in that?

This fic should probably only be about maybe three chapters at most after this one and that's absolute most.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

_Normal POV _

Skyes charged at his next target, Yuffie. In the background Yuffie could see the once-leader Madame clutching her stomach before dropping to the cold stone floor in defeat. Yuffie took a deep breath and grounded her feet, there wasn't much time. In the corners Tidus, Leon, and Paine quietly withdrew their weapons and fingered the triggers/handles. They knew the end was coming.

Yuffie did a quick back flip to get herself out of Skyes pathway and began firing shruikens at him in a rapid succession. He, needless to say, fell quickly. Maleficent rose from the chair she had been seated in the whole time.

"I must say, you are a feisty one. It's a shame you don't really work for the former DEK." she said sarcastically.

"Why would I want to work for a dysfunctional group that hated each other?" Yuffie said with a smile. Maleficent's face remained neutral. Yuffie put her hand on top of her head and pretended to smooth her hair. This was the signal. Without warning Leon, Paine, and Tidus dashed out from their corners, their weapons in action-mode.

"Well so you do have friends. I would think before you finish me off…" Maleficent began, but Yuffie cut her off.

"We're not going to finish you off yet. But we will hurt you, and yes we could finish you off if necessary." Yuffie said, then realized what she had just said didn't really make sense.

"You poor simple fools, you dare think you can defeat me?" she boomer, clearly angry. Yuffie took this as the perfect timing to begin the fight.

They weren't fighting to finish her off, not yet. There still was too much information that she probably knew. They had no clue what exactly the boss wanted with Rikku or Yuna for that matter. Gippal and Baralai were also missing, and there was the age-old question of the food delivery service which had landed them there.

However it took most of their strength just to attempt to hurt her to a point where she would give in to their demands. First Paine twirled the large wooden rod Aerith had given her around and cast a blindness spell on Maleficent.

"Nice." Yuffie commented as she administered potions frequently and threw shruikens. Leon managed to get some decent hits with his gunblade in before getting it knocked out of his hands. Finally Maleficent began clutching her chest and sat down in the chair winded. She closed her eyes and waited for one of the three to finish her off. After about a minute she opened her eyes again and felt something hard around her wrists.

"Don't even think it. Those chains having a coating on them that will prevent you from escaping, even with magic." Paine said. Yuffie was standing behind her, next to Leon. They both had their weapons in their hands. Tidus was on the other side of her; during the fighting he had run across the room and found the chains. The others hadn't needed him, so he had set up this little interrogation area while they were fighting.

"So, Maleficent is it?" Tidus asked harshly, which was so out of character for him Paine almost laughed.

"Not to you." she snapped. Paine rolled her eyes and took a bomb core out of a pouch. While she was in Traverse Town picking up Leon and Yuffie she had stopped by the items and accessory shops.

"Don't make me use these." Paine warned, waving the bomb in front of Maleficent's face.

"Fine, what do you want to know?" She caved. Tidus smiled and looked over at Yuffie who smiled as well. Leon's face remained neutral while he kept asking himself why was he here again.

"Everything." Yuffie answered with a giggle, but she quickly stuck her hand over her mouth to quiet her laughter.

"I guess I should start with the beginning," Maleficent sighed, wondering why she should even bother keeping quiet, they were bound to find out sooner or later. "Two years ago I was living in my castle, in my home nation, when my pet found a very peculiar note. It was addressed to me and from the boss. The noted simply stated if I wanted to save my home planet then to meet him at Hallow Bastion. That was it, no date, no time, and no address. I took the note to be a prank and continued with my plans to overthrow King Stephen. However when I was defeated by Prince Phillip and Aurora overcame my curse I felt very weak. If a force as transparent as love could overpower me surely I wasn't suited for ruling a kingdom? Right?" Maleficent looked at the faces of her listeners, they all stood quietly and shrugged. She continued her story, "A few months later I was recuperating in my castle when another note came. This one was also from the boss; it said if I wanted to be more powerful then one could imagine then to come to Hallow Bastion. This time it has a key attached to the letter. The key was a small almost mini-keyblade. I took the key and found a Gummi ship in the basement of my castle. I went inside and found another note. It said 'Bring Aurora to Hallow Bastion'. Without any questions I captured Aurora fairly easily and took her prisoner in my ship."

"Wow." Yuffie breathed, Maleficent shot a quick glare at her. Tidus had pulled up a chair and was sitting on its edge, listening closely.

"When I boarded the ship this time the coordinates were pre-set for Hallow Bastion and I arrived there within six hours. The boss was waiting for me and my prisoner Aurora at the entrance to Rising Falls. He told me his name was Ansem and he and his brothers Sephoroth and Seymour were planning the biggest event to ever threaten the universe. They took Aurora and put her in this very room, along with some other princesses from various worlds. Then a huge group of us met. The DEK you saw here was only a small fraction of our forces. Ansem and his brothers had assembled an army of villains. Our purpose was to find eight princesses of heart and bring them to him. Along the way we were to find the keyholes of any worlds we visited. These keyholes lead to world's heart. Ansem ordered us to prevent the keyhole from being sealed and to use the keyhole to control the heartless in the world. He warned us of a key barer." Maleficent paused as all eyes became fixed on Sora who even in his slumber was clutching a giant key.

"Sora." Yuffie said what everyone was thinking, Maleficent nodded.

"Yes, Ansem told us he himself would take care of the world the key barer resided in and he did. He told us the key barer would try to stop us by using the power of the light to overcome the darkness. He told us the darkness, however, was the most powerful thing in existence. He told us if we helped him we could use the eight princesses' hearts to unlock the final keyhole and find Kingdom Hearts. He told us only then would we have true power over the heartless." Maleficent stopped again and took a deep breath. The little group was all leaning in hanging on to every word she spoke.

"I think I can fill in a few blanks," Paine said, "Ansem wanted power and he needed princesses. Those princesses were located all over the universe so he summoned their enemies to capture them, and the pay for capturing them was a slice of the power he was going to acquire?"

"Simply put, yes. But there is more," Maleficent continued, "So while Ansem had six of the princesses we still needed two more. They were not easy to find as their worlds did not have an antagonist. Kairi, the princess of Hallow Bastion, was found seventh. Unfortunately she was useless without her heart. We still don't know where it is, and we can only assume our plan is a failure for if she is a heartless then she will not be able to open the door."

"Kairi is a heartless?" Yuffie asked. Maleficent half shrugged half nodded.

"Looks that way, we're not positive though. Something is leading us to believe that the heart is in the castle, she seems to be responding to something for she had shown signs of consciousness recently." Maleficent paused a bit too long.

"On with it." Leon urged fiercely. Maleficent shot him a glare, but was met with an equally flame-freezing expression. She felt hopeless.

"Fine. The last princess of heart was located in Spria. A world none of the DEK had ever heard of it took us almost six months to find it. All we knew was to search for a girl named Yuna; we were told she was a summoner. When some of our members arrived in Spira we learned that Yuna was to be staying at one of two houses. The DEK wasn't one to take chances when it came to the princesses of heart, so we decided to abduct the occupants of both houses and bring them all to Hallow Bastion. So began a mission. When we intercepted your telephone lines we heard that you were ordering pizza and the others were ordering Chinese food. So we simply took the uniforms and posed as your delivery personnel. Viola, I think you understand where the story goes from there, on our ships we figured out who was the real Yuna and dumped the rest of you in Traverse Town. Baralai or whatever his name is managed to stay aboard the ship and when he arrived here we quickly fed him to the heartless." Maleficent chuckled and Paine made a fist.

"Why I ought to…" Paine started to swing at Maleficent but Leon grabbed her wrist before it was too late.

"No good will come of that." he whispered in her ear. She didn't respond, but dropped her fist into her lap.

"I can only guess that when you arrived in Traverse Town, you realized you were missing Yuna, etc. and went off to play hero. And to help the key barer in his mission to save the worlds. You realize if he does that our hard work will be ruined." Maleficent snarled; she was regaining her strength now. "You don't realize something. The darkness is more powerful then love, Ansem gave up his peoples and killed his own two brothers just to have more control. The darkness consumes hearts and soon enough, even if you finish off me, your hearts will also be consumed."

Yuffie fought back all her emotions and flung her shruiken at Maleficent. "Rule number one in war, all is fair in LOVE and war. Also next time, and there won't be a next time, try to remember not to spill the only thing keeping you alive." Yuffie grinned and aimed her weapon at Maleficent's heart. They all closed their eyes and waited silently for the deed to be done. When they opened their eyes Maleficent's body was dissolving and a red heart was floating skyward.

_  
About an hour later_

Paine, Leon, Tidus, and Yuffie had all been sitting around in the large room waiting for Sora and Riku to wake up. The sleeping potion hadn't worn off yet and it was only a matter of time before the brother-killing Ansem found out his entire army of allies was dead. Luckily with the DEK out of the way they didn't have to worry about being caught, except by Ansem, who they were planning on fighting anyway. That assumption was a mistake.

"I see you've made yourselves comfortable." A familiar voice boomed. The doors opened to reveal Rikku, decked out in all black, entering the room. Paine and Tidus' jaws dropped. Rikku hated black and at the moment she looked like some anti-Rikku evil twin.

"Is something wrong Rikku?" Tidus asked, stating the obvious. Riku and Sora began to stir on their beds, perfect timing.

"Of course not, now that we found you. The boss will attend to you in a moment; right now he's a bit pre-occupied." Rikku stated as if she were telling Tidus that she wanted a turkey sandwich for lunch.

"Rikku…"Riku moaned quietly as he woke up. The entire room's eyes turned and became focused on him. Rikku's eyes flashed their natural green before returning to black.

"Finally you're awake." Paine muttered. Yuffie and Leon edged forward and looked at Sora's face. His eyes were still closed in a deep sleep.

"Is everything alright Rikku? You feeling okay?" Tidus asked. Everyone in the room, but Rikku, simultaneously rolled their eyes at him. "What?" he asked defensively.

"I see you have eliminated the DEK, thank you in advance for making my job a lot easier." Rikku said in that villain-y was of hers.

"Excuse me?" Yuffie asked, she withdrew her shriukens.

"I was sent here to finish them off, so the boss could have them out of the way, but I see you've already done that for me. Now if you'll please hand over the keyblade and leave we can finish this without a fight."

"We haven't come this far for nothing." Yuffie said, but it seemed she was alone.

"Rikku, stop. Think. Back up. We're your friends; we are here to rescue you. Please try and understand that." Tidus begged.

"We don't want to fight you," Paine added, "but we will if it's necessary."

"I won't." Riku said from the bed he was sitting up on. All eyes fell on him once again. He stood up from the bed and walked over to Rikku. "If nothing else remember that I never hurt you." he said softly so only she could hear. Her eyes flashed again.

A heavy wooden door swung open and all eyes instinctively flew to it. Gippal stepped into the room, dirty, wrinkled, out of breath, and still looking as hot as ever.

"I finally found you. Rikku are you alright?" Gippal panted without looking up from the ground. When he did he was Riku and Rikku standing next to each other, Rikku looking totally different and dressed in a pair of black felt Nike Active Pants® and a form fitting black camisole. Her eyes were a stormy black instead of their usual green swirls. "Oh my god what has he done to you?" he asked, as he ran over and scooped Rikku up in his arms.

"Put me down." she hissed. Gippal didn't seem happy with the request, but he complied. "Leave or I will hurt you!" she screamed, picking up where she left off. Gippal seemed a little shocked and back up a few steps, Riku stayed put.

Suddenly Wakka charged into the room with a small handgun, much like the one that had been with the Chinese delivery woman that night they were all abducted. "Is it go time yet Gippal?" he asked without taking in his surroundings. Everybody in the room sighed and Rikku moved away with a quick pace.

"I will be back shortly." she muttered before leaving the room. Sora began waking up.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked as he rubbed the sleep from his heavy eyelids. Yuffie sighed and began to fill him in on the details.

_Exactly Forty-five minutes and Three point eight seconds later_

"Miss me?" Rikku called in the Dungeon of the Hearts as she swung open the doors to the large room. Ansem followed close behind. Something was not right. The room was barren.

"You said they were here." He grumbled before snapping his fingers twice. A black portal formed in the center of the hallway and Ansem began to step into it.

"Wait! They are here! I know they are! They couldn't have escaped!" Rikku pleaded. Ansem just shook his head and muttered a few curses.

"Well they left and we need to find them and the keyblade they posses." he said harshly.

"Actually there's something I forget to tell you." Rikku grinned a little and pulled a black keyblade out from thin air. "I took this off Riku when he was speaking with me. I think it should serve our purposes quite nicely." Ansem's lips formed a small smile.

"Excellent, now bring that boy to me and make sure no one follows." he nodded in brief acknowledgment and exited the room through the portal.

Rikku sighed heavily and put her hands in front of her face she hastily created a portal destined for Traverse Town and stepped into it. The faster she got this over with the faster Ansem would release her. Not only did he have power over her, but he was also abusing herself and Yuna.

_Traverse Town_

Tidus was the first one off the Gummi ship, followed by Yuffie. They were all headed for the hotel for a quick night's sleep. Then they were going to gather some supplies and head to Hallow Bastion in the morning in hopes of defeating Ansem and breaking whatever mind control he had over Rikku. And to save Kairi and Yuna…and Baralai.

Wakka and Gippal had come along skeptically, they didn't really want to leave the castle and most of all Gippal didn't really want to leave Rikku. He had a feeling that the 'boss' just had some mind trap set over her and she was acting on that. He made a mental note to buy her an outfit for when they freed her, that way she wouldn't have to walk around in her possessed clothing after being freed. He silently congratulated himself for being so thoughtful.

"Tidus, Leon, Sora, Wakka, and Riku to one room me and Paine to the other!" Yuffie shouted as they made their way down the street.

"No way, five to two? You guys have to at least one extra person." Sora whined.

"Fine, Leon can stay with us because he shares a room with me normally, so all his clothes and stuff will already be there. Aerith will stay with us too…and you guys can sleep in her room." Yuffie compromised. Everyone agreed and they came to the hotel quickly, they only had to fight about a hundred heartless…

"The heartless are increasing in number," Leon whispered to Paine, "that's a bad sign." Paine considered this logical comment.

"Well on the bright side Rikku was trained nicely in fighting, I guess I trained her well on the warrior dressphere." Paine answered. Leon nodded and thought of what to say for his answer. He realized everybody else was also deep in conversation and nobody was paying any attention to the silent warriors.

"I don't use dresspheres, but if I did I'm guessing warrior would be my favorite." Leon said finally.

"You get to whack bad guys with a big sword, what could be better?" Paine said, she even surprised herself at the fact that she just made a joke.

"Whacking two bad guys with a sword." Leon said, chuckling a bit. Before they knew it they had arrived at the hotel.

Paine, Yuffie, Leon, and Aerith decided to stay in the Red Room, Paine and Leon would be on watch duty for the night. Riku, Sora, Wakka, Gippal, and Tidus agreed to stay in the Green Room with Wakka and Tidus on watch duty. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, everyone seemed happy and eager to finally get a night's rest. Little did they know they were all thinking the same thing, they would all rather be back at Hallow Bastion rescuing one of their friends.

_At Traverse Town's World Exit_

Rikku finally arrived at Traverse Town after much physical difficulty. Her powers seemed to be weakening somehow and she wasn't sure why. An outside chance that Ansem's powers were weakening might be to blame.

Rikku came up on the whole via the Alleyway; she quietly crept around the stone buildings and saw the balconies of the hotel. Two silhouetted figures which seemed to be deep in conversation. Upon further inspection one of the figures was Paine and the other was a guy with longish brown hair. They were probably on watch duty, but Rikku noticed that they weren't paying attention to anything but the conversation they were having with each other.

Rikku quietly crept through the alley and worked her way into the first balcony. Two Wizard Heartless appeared in front of her, Rikku acted quickly, throwing two small dark spheres and them and capturing their essence. She directed them to inside the hotel room. 'Better have them weakened before I even make my entrance' Rikku thought slyly.

_Inside the Green Room_

"Tidus stop spilling Coke all over my frickin' bed!" Gippal yelled at Tidus for the seventh time that evening. Tidus didn't listen for the seventh time and remained seated on the large bed guzzling soda and playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City with Wakka.

"We should probably get some sleep if we want to be well rested for the battle tomorrow." Sora said shyly from the corner. Three sets of eyes turned and glared at him simultaneously. "Never mind." Sora mumbled sheepishly.

"I agree with Sora," Riku said as he unplugged the PS2, "we're going to be fighting the biggest battle ever to be fought in the entire universe. We're going to be fighting for our friends, family, country, worlds, even our own hearts. We can't even be the slightest bit tired or we'll risk a failure to win. And I don't know about you, but I do not want to be around in this world if we fall to Ansem." Hesitantly Gippal agreed.

"At least it'll stop Tidus from spilling Coke all over my bed." he reasoned. Wakka got up and flicked the lights off in the room.

"All right men, we sleep and tomorrow we fight!" Wakka whooped and Tidus let out a cheer. Then in a millisecond they all succumbed to sleep.

Rikku entered the room quietly. Her eyes were already adjusted to the darkness of the room, surprisingly she didn't see the Wizards she had teleported there. '_You mustn't rely too heavily on the darkness' powers.' _Ansem had warned her, she hadn't listened and now she could really feel her powers weakening, but Ansem's mind control seemed to be increasing, it was so strong that she could almost feel him controlling her every move. As if he had become a part of her.

Rikku decided to try and act as quickly as possible, she slinked over to the corner of the room and picked up Sora's keyblade. It quickly dissolved in her hand and landed in Sora's hand. 'Crap' she thought as he began to rub his eyes. He looked at the keyblade in his hand sleepily and starting setting it down.

Rikku watched Sora silently and held her breath. Then she saw Riku's sleeping body he looked so innocent. She remembered seeing him that way before, it was serious déjà vu. For a second Rikku felt her emotions shooting back at her, but only for a moment. Because some pain in her heart snapped her back to reality. Everything was as Ansem had told her; nobody cared for her they were just getting in the way from the ultimate plan. She had to fulfill her role in the ultimate plan he told her.

Sora thought he was dreaming for a moment when the keyblade appeared in his hand. But then he heard someone breathing very softly in the corner. He turned around and saw the outline of a girl standing in the corner. At first he thought he was imagining Kairi again and it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but then he noticed it was Rikku.

"Everybody wake up!" Sora shouted suddenly, it shocked Rikku enough to cause her to suck in her breath quickly, enough of a noise to make herself even more noticed. Immediately Tidus shot up and shouted something about the world ending and Wakka just rolled over mumbling something to his mother. Riku stood up and brushed himself off, he looked around the room and his eyes settled on Rikku.

"Is it you?" Riku asked, directing his voice towards Rikku. She cringed and didn't reply. Inside Rikku's mind she was screaming at herself, she wanted to run over to Riku and tell him that she was sorry and she never wanted to hurt him, ever. She wanted to tell him she was tricked by Ansem and couldn't control her speech or actions. Most of all she wanted to tell him how much she cared for him.

Gippal stood up and walked right over to the light switch, flicking it on. Everybody blinked a few times, their eyes adjusting to the light, before looking around the room for the intruder. Rikku didn't blush, although her brain was screaming at her mouth. She couldn't control any of her outward actions, luckily she had regained, as if by magic, her inward thoughts.

Wakka crossed the room and took out his blitzball. "Whatta you want Rikku, ya? Don't make me use this ya." Rikku's eyes flashed green for about ten seconds; they looked at the guys pleadingly. Then they turned the stormy black and Rikku pulled out her thief blades. They were slightly different, the thief blades had taken the form of two black keys both had a heartless symbol inscribed on the keychain.

"Rikku please." Gippal pleaded she didn't respond and started thrashing her keys through the air.

_With Yuffie, Aerith, Paine, and Leon_

"Yuffie did you hear that?" Aerith asked the young ninja. The girl nodded and quietly got off the couch she had been sleeping on. Aerith climbed out of the bed from across the room and walked over to the door. Yuffie ran out onto the balcony and alerted Leon and Paine.

"What kind of guards are you anyways?" Yuffie asked when she stepped onto the small balcony. "Oh." she said at the sight before her, Paine and Leon were sitting very close together talking quietly. Leon had Paine's hand in his and they were…laughing?

"Yuffie what do you want?" Leon asked, slightly irritated. Yuffie shrugged before answering.

"Aerith and I heard some weird noises coming from next door, we thought maybe you'd like to come with us and check it out." she answered carefully. Leon and Paine got up from their seats and followed Yuffie into the Red Room.

"Aerith is gone. She must be next door." Paine commented. The small group quickly opened the door of the adjoining room and entered. None of them prepared for what they saw next.

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A/N: I wouldn't have cut it off there if this wasn't already 10 pages long. Nobody wants chapters that are too long. So don't worry I'll wrap a lot up in the next chapter and yeah. I hope I did a good job explaining everything, or was I really confusing? Whatever I have a tennis match so I'll be writing later…

Lucy!


	11. Kingdom Hearts

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to anything used in this story, they are the property of Square Enix. No profit was made by myself in the creation of this fic.

A/N: Okay so last chapter was long. This chapter should be a good one; I'm hoping to get some good fluff involved. Anyways we're in the home stretch now not much left to write here.

By the way, I'm thinking about changing the category of this to Kingdom Hearts because it turned out to have a lot more Kingdom Heart plot points and characters then I originally planned, what do you guys think?

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_Normal POV, Green Room, Traverse Town_

Yuffie gazed at the blood on the floor. Wakka was lying on the bed, clutching his stomach. Gippal had cuts and bruises sprinkled across his body but he continued to fight. What surprised Yuffie the most was the fact that the person they were fighting was Rikku.

"Yuffie help us stop her!" Tidus shouted from his position on the top of the bed. He was standing tall, above the rest of the room, blocking Rikku's attacks.

"Don't hurt her too badly though." Riku called from the corner. He was sort of huddled protecting Sora, and sort of blocking Rikku's attacks. Everything he was doing he was doing against his will.

Paine and Leon moved to the side of the room with Tidus and Gippal, they aided in trying to hold Rikku back.

"Just give me what I want and I'll leave you alone." Rikku shouted over the noise of the fight. Everybody stopped and was silent for a moment. Nothing moved, not even the wind dared to blow. Finally Tidus stepped forward.

"We don't know what that is Rikku. Maybe if you could explain yourself we'd be more willing to meet your requests." he said clearly. Gippal was pretty impressed with how well-spoken Tidus had sounded just then, he would have made a smart remark about it if the situation had been different.

"I don't have time for this. The boss only requests the key barer and the key. The rest of you don't need to be involved." Rikku answered hesitantly. Everyone in the room chewed over what she had just said.

"Actually considering you have Yuna, yeah I do need to be involved." Tidus said seriously. He was in no mood for joking when it came to his friends and Yuna's safety.

"Just let me have the key barer." Rikku said, almost pleadingly. Nobody answered her and she felt angry, almost embarrassed. Rikku felt somewhat proud of herself for holding her own alone against all of her friends. Even though she had the powers of the darkness helping her, she still felt a small sense of pride. This sense of pride was the only thing that kept her from breaking down right there and surrendering her heart to the heartless, she felt that trapped. Rikku tried to stop her body when it hit Wakka, she had almost no control over it, and although her brain was struggling she managed to avoid hitting Gippal and Riku. Not even all the darkness in the world could make her hurt them.

"Rikku can you take us all to the boss? Instead of you taking the key barer alone. If you take us all we'll go and reason with your boss so we can avoid hurting you." Gippal suggested. Everyone seemed to agree.

"I'll take the key barer and four companions." Rikku agreed. Everybody silently made a mental list of who would get to go save the world. Riku and Tidus would obviously accompany her, along with Gippal. That left one spot left.

"I want to go; maybe somehow I'll find Cloud along the way." Aerith spoke up. Nobody wanted to argue with the silent yet powerful flower girl and they agreed that Wakka, Paine, Leon, and Yuffie would wait at the hotel.

Rikku nodded and motioned for everyone to leave with her immediately. "When I make the portal step through don't try anything because I set the portal to only transfer six people, including myself., so if you try to sneak in you'll cut off someone else." she explained. The group around her nodded and she put her hands in front of her face. A spiraling warp hole of black gases formed in front of her and she stepped through it cautiously. The four others, and Sora, followed.

_Hallow Bastion's Dungeon of the Hearts_

Ansem paced around the room frantically, unable to convince himself to have faith in Rikku. Her namesake already broke his hold and she was dangerously close to doing so as well. The only thing keeping him in control was her desire for power and her desire to save her cousin. Ansem had to rely on those desires to keep him in complete control of the situation. After years of planning and ironing out details there was no way he was going to just step aside leave everything up to chance. Ansem quietly allotted Rikku some more power in hopes it would lead to him having more control over her.

The eight princesses of heart had been gathered, all of them were lying on cold stone tables in the Dungeon of the Hearts. In the center of the back wall a large heartless symbol was displayed, this was the keyhole to Hallow Bastion, and the last step to Ansem gaining access to Kingdom Hearts. He knew Kingdom Hearts was the place where all heartless originated and it was also the place where all hearts were born, even the key barer. All he needed was to unlock Kingdom Hearts and have control over its powers, thus having control over the universe. All the worlds were either destroyed or connected to the darkness now, and Ansem was going to make sure things stayed that way.

Kairi, the princess of Hallow Bastion was what was standing in his way. The girl was unresponsive to all tests, except for a short period of time when the key barer was in the castle, she moved slightly at that point in time, which led Ansem to believe he would be the best way to try to find the girl's heart, without her heart she was useless. 'Rikku should have been here hours ago' Ansem thought, 'where is that girl anyways?'

Rikku, Sora, Riku, Tidus, Aerith, and Gippal all entered the Dungeon of the Hearts. Only a day before the group, minus Rikku, had defeated the DEK and essentially left only one person standing in their way of bringing things back to normal, Ansem. They entered the room quietly and scanned the area. Ansem was standing atop the stair, by the eight princesses. He seemed to be staring at something, most likely the large heartless symbol on the wall. Finally he turned around.

"Rikku I hear you walking, I assume you finally returned with the key barer? I assume you'll be turning him over to me now and retiring to your chamber immediately." he said in an arrogant tone. He still hadn't turned around, and still had no idea of his uninvited guests.

Rikku wanted to scream and kick and run away, with Riku. What she didn't want to do was exactly what she did, she said two simple words. "Yes boss." Inside Rikku was screaming but outside Rikku pushed Sora forward and exited the room, shutting the door loudly behind her.

Ansem spoke immediately, "So, Sora is it? I believe you have something that I need." Sora cringed and stepped behind Tidus. Then he took a breath and stepped in front of the group.

"I'm not afraid of you Ansem." Sora said loudly. For a moment all was silent.

"You have no idea what I want do you boy? The heart of Kairi is trapped inside you, that's why you are feeling a strong connection with her. If you want to save her you have to unlock her heart from her body, using this key." Ansem said, he handed Sora the black key that Rikku had given to him. Sora took the key in his hand and held it up to his heart.

"No- Sora, don't! It has to be a trap!" Tidus called. Sora looked at the blonde solemnly.

"It's the only way to save Kairi. Even if I lose my heart, at least hers will be saved." he said at last. Ansem said nothing, but stood in the background grinning slightly. 'If the boy unlocks Kairi's heart from him I will have all the princesses of heart's hearts. My plan will be complete.' Ansem thought.

"Sora what will we do if you lose your heart?" Gippal asked. Sora thought for a moment before replying.

"If I lose my heart defeat Ansem and save Kairi, tell her I'll always be with her." Sora said, and then without another word he plunged the keyblade at his chest and felt the pain. Two hearts floated above him, but soon he passed out. One of the hearts drifted through the air and found its owner, Kairi. The other heart stopped in mid-air before falling back into Sora, a lucky break.

Kairi's eyes fluttered and shot open. She tried to sit up on the stone cold table she was lying on, but found herself tied down. Turning her head slightly she could see she was not alone, other girls were in the same predicament. They seemed to be sleeping or unconsciousness though.

"Sora!" Kairi shouted, Ansem quickly turned to her and cast a silence spell over her.

"Ansem let Kairi go! And give Rikku back her heart!" Sora shouted, he withdrew his real keyblade and crouched down into a fighting position. Ansem turned around and looked at the boy; he took in the others with him.

'There is that blonde boy with the eye patch, the princess Yuna's boyfriend, a girl with a braid, and Riku; the boy who escaped from my power. They shouldn't be hard to defeat…and then I'll have them out of the way.' Ansem thought.

"The heart is the mightiest weapon of all Ansem, and we have our hearts on our side. You can forget about winning this battle." Sora shouted at him. Ansem blinked a few times while he thought of an answer. Mentally he made Rikku enter the room; he reasoned that if he forced her to fight against her friends' maybe they would be emotionally weakened by the time he had to fight them. Even if they defeated her it would not really be a lose to him, she already served her purpose. And she did it badly; he would give her a D- for a grade.

Rikku entered the room; she was wearing a black cape and a long black peasant skirt. Her shirt was a loose cotton black tank top and her hair was tied up in a black headband, in her braids all the beads are black. Her feet are bare and she has a black toe ring and ankle bracelet.

"Rikku!" Gippal shouted, pulled an orange dress out of one of his pockets and waved it in front of her. "I got this for you, you don't like black! I remember you told me you hated black once!"

Riku remained silent but gazed at Rikku longingly. Her fingers squirmed a bit; the inner-Rikku was fighting Ansem's powers with all her strength. She felt faint but finally she turned to Ansem and said, "I hate you." Then she ran over to Riku and collapsed into his arms.

_A few silent minutes later_

With Rikku no longer under Ansem's control the group felt the fight with Ansem coming closer and closer. They were all mostly preparing. They suspected that Ansem had a lot of strength because he'd managed to gain so much power in the first place, and with that power of darkness he would be even more powerful.

Sora withdrew his keyblade and cast an Aero spell on everyone in their group. Then he began taking hits at Ansem, showing no mercy. Gippal fired constantly at Ansem but he missed a few times. Aerith used her large rod to cast firagra and blizzagra spells on Ansem, while she also healed the group. Tidus used his large sword to thrash at Ansem continuously.

Then the whole room began to shake, eight beams of light rose from the chests' of the eight princesses of heart. The emblem on the back of the wall disappeared and a large keyhole became visible.

"No." Sora said, halting his fighting momentarily. Gippal looked up for a second, but continued to fire at a now weakened Ansem.

Rikku was still lying in Riku's arms; she was limp but not unconscious. Everybody waited for something to happen, and nothing did. A sort of dimension was exposed and one could go through it, nobody knew for sure where it lead but they could only guess it led to Kingdom Hearts.

The doors to the Dungeon of the Hearts swung open and an out-of-breath Paine stepped into the room. She was followed by Leon, Wakka, and Yuffie. They took a look at the scene around them and withdrew their weapons, charging at Ansem.

Yuffie began to hit with her shruikens and Leon used his gunblade, in fact everybody used their default weapons, but it was all too easy. Ansem suddenly threw his hands into the sky and a ghastly figure was summoned down.

"Hold me guardian!" he said and the figure protected him, while it fired some spells at the group.

"We have to defeat that first ya?" Wakka said as he threw his blitzball at the guardian. Nobody answered but they all began to attack it. After several minutes the guardian miraculously fell and everybody sighed, out of breath. Ansem's yellow eyes snapped open and he began to attack.

Nobody expected the battle to be easy, but nobody expected it to as hard as it was. Sora turned out to save the day. His keyblade was immune to darkness spells and he used this to his advantage.

Slowly Ansem began to succumb to the group's strength, but not without a last strike. He quickly cast death on Sora before slowly kneeling over and leaving the universe to go into the farplane once and for all.

Everybody stood still, expect Sora. He was lying on the ground, his arms raised slightly above his head, his keyblade still intact. Slowly the eight princesses began to awake; Ansem's powers were now no longer affecting them. Yuna was the first to wake up.

"Tidus?" She called when she sat up on the stone platform, facing the opposite direction of the group.

"Yuna! I'm here, I'm over here!" Tidus said, Yuna jumped off of the platform and began running at full speed to Tidus. He caught her in his arms and held her tightly. "Yuna the past few days have been the scariest days of my entire life. I was scared I was going to lose you." he whispered in her ear. Yuna looked up at his face her eyes meeting his dark blue ones and she began to cry, tears of happiness and joy.

"I hate to interrupt, but we kind of have a crisis on our hands. Aerith has cast full-life on Sora and applied about seven Phoenix Downs and about fifty high-potions on Sora, but he isn't waking up. He's not even showing signs of consciousness." Yuffie said softly. Yuna gave Tidus a confused looked but he didn't answer, he just took her hand and walked over to the circle the group had made around Sora.

Kairi and the other princesses were dismounting their beds, all slightly confused as to what had happened. They didn't remember too much except for the fact that they had been kidnapped and brought to a strange world. Kairi looked around the room and was first to spot the group.

"Hello, does anyone know what's going on around here?" Kairi asked, but she was only met by a lot of sad gazes.

"You must be Kairi." Yuffie said softly. Before Kairi had a chance to answer someone spoke up from the corner.

"She is." It was Riku. Kairi looked at her old friend and was surprised to see that he had a blonde girl resting in his arms. She smiled at him and felt only happiness for him, not jealously what so ever. She continued to wonder, however, where she was and why was she here.

"Does anyone know where Sora is?" Kairi asked. Everyone nodded and pointed to the middle of their circle. Kairi walked through them and gasped at the sight of the fallen Sora. "No. Sora! You can't leave me!" Kairi cried a pang of pain shot through her heart and she clutched her hand over it.

"We've done everything we can think of. Somehow Ansem's spell still had an affect over him. And Ansem has been defeated." Aerith said soothingly. Kairi nodded and wiped a tear away from her face.

Suddenly the large doors opened again and Baralai stepped through them. He was wearing his normal clothing and his face was back to normal. A glint of happiness shone in his eyes. "I see you are all safe." he said happily.

"All but one." Yuffie said sadly, she cocked her head towards Sora. Kairi burst out into fresh tears and didn't even try to control herself.

"Maybe if you close the door to Kingdom Hearts Ansem's powers will once and for all be eliminated from this universe. Kingdom Hearts has been opened by him and the princesses of Heart, luckily he never got to use the powers. He missed some tiny details." Baralai suggested.

"I never thought of that- how-how did you know? What details?" Aerith asked. Baralai shrugged.

"I was almost I heartless, but on my journey to finding my light again I learned everything. I also know this: the worlds destroyed by the heartless will return if we seal Kingdom Hearts. Ansem, in all of his research, never learned that Kingdom Hearts is not darkness, but Kingdom Hearts is the ultimate light. The heartless live there, yes, but they live among the shadows. Ansem has opened Kingdom Hearts and released its light into the world. Now the only thing left there is the darkness he wanted so badly to control. We must seal Kingdom Hearts and end this once and for all. If we seal it we will all be able to go back home. The worlds will no longer be connected, tied to the darkness. Everything will be back to normal…mostly." Baralai explained. Kairi clapped her hands and became running towards Kingdom Hearts. "One more thing," Baralai yelled to her, "in order to seal Kingdom Hearts someone will have to be sealed inside with the black keyblade." Baralai picked up the keyblade Sora had used to unlock his heart with.

"There's always a catch." Kairi said huffily. Yuna tightened her grip on Tidus and told him without words that he couldn't be the one, he couldn't leave her alone.

"I will do it." Baralai said finally. "I feel Yevon telling me this is my calling. I will seal the door, please tell my party to elect a new leader, tell them I am fine." Everyone was about to protest but Baralai put up his hand, he picked up the keyblade and began walking towards Kingdom Hearts, and he never looked back.

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A/n: I had to do it, don't kill me. More drama to come and I hope you caught on to the foreshadowing…

Lucy!


	12. You Never Know

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to this stuff!

A/N: Enjoy…

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_Normal POV _

Rikku watched in horror as her friend Baralai walked towards Kingdom Hearts. She had a gut feeling that she would never see him again but she also had a feeling that she shouldn't stop him. Rikku felt Riku begin to stand up and she stood up with him.

"You heard what he said right?" Riku asked he gently weaved his fingers through Rikku's long blonde hair. She looked up at him with her large green eyes.

"Please don't remind me." Rikku said, hugging him tightly. Gippal shifted awkwardly on the other side of the room 'Everyone seems to be a couple now' he thought to himself. Paine and Leon were talking quietly with each other, Tidus and Yuna were holding hands and helping Kairi and Aerith carry Sora to the outside of Kingdom Hearts.

"Come on people we've got to go out there with them." Gippal yelled to the people left in the room. Silently everyone began to make their way towards Kingdom Hearts.

Rikku began to walk to, but Riku grabbed her arm gently and stopped her as he began to speak to her. "Rikku before we go there's something I need to tell you." Riku said softly, Rikku turned around and nodded slowly, not daring to look into his eyes. "I just want to say no matter where we are or what world we're in we'll always be together…I'll always be with you. But I don't want that to hold you back. So when our worlds come back together and we separate I want you to find someone who will love you and take care of you…for me." He smiled and brushed a single tear off of her cheek. Then he bent down and put the lightest of kisses on her rosy lips. She began crying but put her arms around his neck and deepened her kiss. She felt him press something hard into her clammy hands, but she didn't look at what it was. Instead she hugged him tighter and pressed herself against him.

"I hate to interrupt…really I do…" Yuffie began.

"I know, we're coming." Rikku replied. The two broke apart and held hands when they entered the Kingdom Hearts abyss. One of Rikku's hands were clenched in a fist and holding on tightly to Riku's gift.

"Aerith figured out that me, Leon, her, and maybe even Cloud won't have a home to go to. We're going to end up in Spira with you!" Yuffie clapped her hands together and smiled insanely huge smile.

"Why won't you guys have a home to go to?" Rikku asked Yuffie frowned slightly and started walking again before she spoke.

"Hallow Bastion is only ruins. In the world of light it doesn't exist anymore, that key somehow connected us to Spira with you guys…so…yeah." Yuffie explained. Rikku nodded and seemed to understand the very un-detailed explanation. Sora was still lying on the floor and Kairi was standing over him protectively. Tidus and Yuna were clutching each other tightly, as if they were afraid they'd lose each other all over again.

Baralai walked to the door of Kingdom Hearts and began to step inside "Please close the door and please don't open it again. Once it is sealed all the suffering will be over, the worlds will be disconnected. The darkness will be defeated. You have defeated Ansem, but that is not enough to defeat the greater evil. I must sacrifice myself I fell it is my destiny. Tell the key barer, Sora, I congratulate him for his bravery throughout his journey. Goodbye." Baralai then entered Kingdom Hearts, the origin of the light and darkness. The place where hearts are born and heartless roam. Baralai was never seen again.

Gippal, Tidus, Wakka, and Leon pushed on the door until it closed with a thud. Suddenly Sora's keyblade rose into the air and inside Kingdom Hearts the black keyblade that Baralai was holding did the same. Kingdom Hearts was sealed on the outside and inside. At first nothing happened. Everyone waited in anticipation.

"Rikku remember me." Riku said to her softly. She nodded and hugged him tightly. "Go to your friends, your destiny waits in Spira." Rikku nodded, not sure if she believed in destiny but she certainly believed everything he said. Riku took her hand and led her to Gippal, they nodded at each other and Gippal felt no hard feelings between any of them. Rikku couldn't help that she fell in love with her silver-haired captor and he couldn't help that he was in love with her. Still it made Gippal the slightest bit sad to know she would forever be in love with someone else.

A loud rumbling was heard and Riku, Sora, and Kairi felt an island forming beneath their feet. The islands which had been destroyed by the darkness and Ansem. They drifted further away from their friends and Riku waved slightly. Aerith craned her neck to see Sora clumsily standing up and being assaulted by bear hugs from Kairi.

"Remember us!" Yuna called to them. She waved from the abyss but the group began to feel something forming under their feet as well. Rikku looked around her and saw things popping up all over the place, as if the world had never been destroyed. Two children ran by chasing a balloon and an old man sat on a bench. Rikku felt herself sitting on a couch in front of a TV. Paine and Yuna sat there too, equally bewildered. Suddenly everything stopped and Rikku opened her eyes. In front of her, on her coffee table, were three small pizzas, one with extra cheese, one with pineapple, and one with pepperoni.

"It's as if nothing ever happened." Rikku breathed but she felt something in her hand opening her sweaty palm she found herself clutching a small clay heart with the words '_For_ _Rikku, Love Riku'_ engraved into it. A sad smile formed on her lips and she looked for something to advert her attention to. Television: perfect.

"What are we watchin'?" Rikku asked Yuna in an abnormally giddy voice; considering the previous circumstances.

"Some show called _Simple and Clean_" Paine said. And they all watched the television show where two teenage boys were having a friendly race on an island to decide what to name their raft.

"Looks familiar." Yuna commented and all three nodded. Rikku felt her heart speed up slightly and she looked down at the heart in her hand once more.

* * *

_One year later_

Rikku, Yuffie, Yuna, and Aerith were all bridesmaids in Paine's wedding. They all stood at attention as Paine entered and walked down the aisle with a grace no one knew she had. The five girls had become fast friends and were all beginning to fully recover mentally from their previous adventures. Rikku had taken it the hardest. She was still in love with someone who was never coming back, who could never come back. Yuna knew the feeling and tried to comfort her, but without success. Besides Yuna's lover had come back.

About half an hour later Rikku found herself staring at the ceiling, she had been daydreaming the whole ceremony. "Rikku come on the ceremony is over we have to leave in the Bridal party's limousine." Yuna whispered excitedly. Rikku shock her head and quickly recovered from the daze she had been in.

"Okay Yunie." Rikku whispered back. The bridal party began to move down the aisle after the bridegroom. Gippal offered Rikku his arm and she took it.

"I never would have thought…those two…married" Gippal whispered to Rikku, she just shrugged. Paine and Leon had gotten together after the whole… 'Incident'…and they'd been together ever since. In Rikku's opinion they were perfect for each other, both silent warriors. Everyone seemed happy to her; Yuna had Tidus, Aerith had a blonde man named Cloud, and Paine had Leon, even Yuffie had a boyfriend …she felt as if everyone was happy except herself. And Riku, at least she thought Riku was feeling the same things as herself. And then there was Gippal.

Rikku knew she would probably end up marrying Gippal, Riku himself had told her to move on without him, but she felt as if now was too soon. Maybe in the future, maybe even in a month she could get past everything a move on at full speed. But not yet, and she had time. Gippal had told her awhile ago he would be happy to marry her when she was ready, he also had told her despite everything and even if the feeling wasn't mutual he was in love with her. The feeling hadn't been mutual, but Rikku felt maybe one day it would be possible to be in love with him, even if the love wasn't as deep as what she felt with Riku.

Rikku had made a silent pact with herself not to dwell in the past…memories were nice but that's all they were. She had to live in the future, that's what Riku wanted. Today's future involved her eating cake and drinking a lot of champagne. And tomorrow?

You just never know. You never know.

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A/n: It's done. I'm happy because I finished a fic. This is kinda my first fic since I wrote two others, but then I decided I didn't like them and deleted them. Anyways I finished this and please tell me if you liked it or should I never write again? I might make some kind of sequel-ish thing. But then again maybe I won't. Please review and thanks for reading.

Lucy!


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